PUPILS and teachers may have to wait until February before the know if Higher and Advanced Higher exams will definitely take place in 2021.

Deputy First Minister and Education Secretary John Swinney has said the government will decide early next year whether the exams will go ahead as usual and cited February as the final month when the decision would be made.

His intervention follows an announcement by the Welsh Government on Tuesday that the end of year exams will be scrapped next year.

Instead GCSE, AS-level and A-level exams there will be replaced by coursework and assessments.

Swinney last month announced that the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) National 5 exams would be cancelled – with teachers' judgement relied on instead – but that the plan remained for Higher and Advanced Higher exams to run in some form.

The Education Secretary was asked this morning about the timing for a Scottish decision and how late a decision could be made on whether Highers and Advanced Highers would go ahead in 2021.

He replied: "The latest point at which we can take that decision will be the February break around about the middle of February and obviously we will be looking very carefully about what is the degree of disruption to the education of young people and also what is the state of the pandemic at that stage."

Pressed on why the Scottish Government could not give pupils and teachers clarity now, he said: "I looked very carefully at this question and there is a very broad range of opinion...where I concluded what that there was a very clear desire amongst a large number of stakeholders for the Higher and Advanced Higher exams to take their course as they are of course the passport into the next stages of education, work and life for young people."

He added: "It is a difficult question and it is one we reflect on very carefully."

The Scottish Government has faced calls to follow the example of Wales by cancelling the 2021 Higher and Advanced Higher exams.

The Scottish Greens, who have repeatedly called for exams to be cancelled to take pressure off teachers and students during the coronavirus pandemic, reacted after the Welsh Government made its announcement.

Ross Greer, the party's education spokesman, said: "The Welsh government has taken the only responsible approach by cancelling all 2021 exams. It’s not fair to ask pupils who have missed weeks of class time to sit an exam next May on the same basis as those who have been fortunate enough to avoid any disruption.

"The Scottish Government has so far opted for a bizarre halfway house by cancelling Nat 5 exams but pressing ahead with Highers and Advanced Highers. It’s becoming increasingly clear that this is a mistake which John Swinney should correct immediately."