What discussions it has had with (a) the SQA and (b) teaching unions regarding the time available for teaching staff to accumulate sufficie…

The National Qualifications 2021 Group draws its membership from the Scottish Government, Education Scotland, Scottish Qualifications Authority, the Educational Institute of Scotland, School Leaders Scotland, the Scottish Council of Independent Schools, Association of Directors of Education in Scotland, Colleges Scotland, National Parent Forum of Scotland, and the Scottish Youth Parliament.
It is overseeing changes to the alternative certification model for national qualifications and the associated timeline that was announced in December. Time for learning, teaching, assessment and the gathering of evidence has been central in these considerations. On 27 January, the Group confirmed that the date for schools and colleges to submit provisional grades has moved from 28 May 2021 to 18 June 2021.