John Swinney 'determined to address' exam results anger and pledges to 'act quickly'

The education secretary will give an update to the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday

John Swinney is Nicola Sturgeon's number two, but is facing mounting pressure from opposition parties following the exam results controversy.

John Swinney has said he will “act quickly” in order to address the controversy over exam results which saw a quarter of grades changed by the SQA.

The education secretary and deputy first minister is facing a potential no confidence motion from Scottish Labour over the controversy.

Scottish Conservatives have said they will back a motion, with the Scottish Liberal Democrats and Scottish Greens stating they will consider their positions until after Mr Swinney’s Tuesday statement.

Speaking ahead of the return of schools across Scotland later this week, Mr Swinney said he was “determined to address” the controversy.

He said: “I have heard the anger of students who feel their hard work has been taken away from them and I am determined to address it.

“These are unprecedented times and as we have said throughout this pandemic, we will not get everything right first time. Every student deserves a grade that reflects the work they have done, and that is what I want to achieve.

“I have been engaged in detailed discussions over the way forward and I know that we need to act and act quickly to give certainty to our young people.

“I will set out on Tuesday how we intend to achieve that.”

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