The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) has split the roles of chief executive and chief examining officer - and today revealed who would be filling them.
The announcement of the new structure follows the departure of former CEO Fiona Robertson last week.
The new interim CEO is John Booth, who has been the SQA’s communications director since June 2021. An open recruitment process is underway to decide on the longer-term chief executive, who is expected to take on the role around the time that the SQA becomes the new national body Qualifications Scotland in the autumn.
The new chief examining officer is Donna Stewart, a former secondary depute headteacher who has been SQA interim director of qualifications since October 2024.
Other high-profile SQA appointments announced today include the expansion of Jean Blair’s role: currently director of operations, she becomes chief operating officer.
George Brown, head of accreditation since 2001, will assume the role of chief regulator, independently managing all accreditation duties and maintaining high standards of quality and fairness.
The SQA is also poised to appoint a new “senior adviser” - a current or former headteacher - who will play a crucial role in helping to establish a new “schools unit” within the national awarding body.
A week ago today, SQA chair Shirley Rogers told the Scottish Parliament’s Education, Children and Young People Committee of her hopes for the new CEO.
She said: “I am hopeful - I really am - that there is, from someone out there who is watching this committee meeting, at least one belting application to be our next chief executive.”
‘Stability, continuity and focus’
Today, Ms Rogers said the new structure was designed to provide “stability, continuity and focus” while the body seeks “the individual who can lead us on a permanent basis to establish Qualifications Scotland”.
She said: “I would encourage candidates with the experience and skills to excel as our new permanent chief executive to apply for the role. It is a rare opportunity to establish and lead a new body that will bring positive changes for learners, educators and the wider education community, as well as supporting industry and the wider economy.”
Interim chief executive John Booth said he was “privileged and proud” to take on the role, adding he was “determined to reset relationships and win back the trust of learners, teachers and parents”.
He said that engaging with them would be “a key priority” and promised the new leadership team would “serve with humility” and learn from the past “by being more open to criticism, challenge and scrutiny”.
However, he also wanted to “look resolutely forward” and not “dwell on what has gone before”.
Mr Booth added: “The replacement of SQA with Qualifications Scotland provides an unprecedented opportunity for a reset and a fresh start, while continuing to maintain standards and the credibility of our qualifications.”
Bringing SQA closer to teachers
Chief examining officer Donna Stewart said she was looking forward to working with the new senior adviser to establish the “schools unit” and “bring SQA closer to teachers and the wider profession” - as well as “learners and communities”.
Last week, she told the Scottish Parliament’s Education, Children and Young People Committee that the unit would help teachers engage with the SQA, while helping the SQA understand how it could better support schools.
“Together we can and will achieve our shared ambition of an improved qualifications and assessment system that enables every learner, supports every educator and delivers for Scotland.”
Education secretary Jenny Gilruth said she was looking forward to working with the new team and implementing the “plans for transformational change in our education system”.
The SQA has come under huge pressure in recent times, including over the cancellation of the exams during Covid and the decision to adjust students’ grades in 2020 based on the past performance of schools. The move resulted in students protesting over results that were far lower than their anticipated grades and a government U-turn.
More recently, the fall in the Higher history pass rate in 2024 and dissatisfaction over the SQA’s handling of the situation have led to calls for an independent review of what went wrong - as well as reopening the debate about whether Scotland needs a separate qualifications watchdog.
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