Scottish exam body questioned over teacher pay for marking

The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) has been questioned over whether it is paying teachers less than minimum and living wage for marking.

According to The Herald, teachers are receiving as little as £3.56 per paper they mark from the SQA, despite some papers taking hours to mark.

The Scottish government pays employees at least a living wage of £8.45 and hour.

In addition to this, ministers also fund the Poverty Alliance to run the Scottish Living Wage Accreditation Initiative.

The SQA is a Living Wage Employer and is now being asked if its current payment system adheres to the wage guarantee policy.

Internal assessments, such as projects and assignments, contribute to a pupil’s final course award and teachers now get an additional payment to mark the work.

Teachers get £3.56 for each assignment they mark in Design and Manufacture, Engineering Science, Graphic Communication and Computing.

The figure for the same subjects at Higher level increases to £4.75 and £7.13 for Advanced Higher.

However, an education source told the Sunday Herald that it was possible to spend up to an hour marking just one pupil's work, which would put the SQA rate at below £7.20 and £8.45.