exam chief quits over result fiasco

THE man responsible for Scotland's exam results fiasco sensationally quit last night.

Ron Tuck resigned after 140,000 students were given false or incomplete exam certificates.

The 51-year-old Scottish Qualifications Authority chief had come under intense pressure as the full extent of the chaos emerged.

It is expected that Mr Tuck, who earns pounds 80,000 a year and has been in the job three years, will receive a cash settlement.

But a spokesman for the SQA said it was too early to discuss any pay-off.

SQA director Dennis Gunning is taking over the position until the job is advertised next week.

A statement issued by the SQA said Mr Tuck had left by mutual agreement and an announcement about an interim replacement would be made early next week.

Mr Tuck himself said: "As I have already made clear, I accept full responsibility for the difficulties which have arisen in the issue of this year's certificates.

"I would like again to apologise to the candidates and their parents for any distress which has been caused.

"I would also like to pay tribute to my staff, who are not in any way to blame for these problems. On the contrary, they have worked with selfless dedication and commitment and I am proud of them all.

"In time, SQA will put this unfortunate episode behind it and go on to become the world-class organisation it is destined to be.

"In the meantime, I will offer any assistance which the Scottish Executive or SQA require in the resolution of the current problem." Scottish education minister Sam Galbraith said: "Under the circumstances, Ron Tuck's resignation was probably inevitable.

"The important thing now is to look forward and to ensure that young people have the assurances they need about the integrity of their exam results."

The exam fiasco was partly caused by the implementation of a new computer system.

About 2,000 certificates, which should have been sent to students on Thursday morning, were also delayed because they were not posted in time.

Teachers were furious that the back-up lists, which they usually receive, were not sent out.

But the Scottish Executive dismissed calls from the SNP for Mr Galbraith to stand down too. Nicola Sturgeon, shadow education spokeswoman, said she had attended a meeting of the SNP's national executive committee in which a resolution calling for Mr Galbraith to stand down was passed unanimously.

She said: "We passed the resolution calling for Sam Galbraith to resign and for the Scottish Executive to give an assurance that no Scottish pupils would be prejudiced from going to university because of the delays.

"The fear is that the universities will have A-level results before the Scottish results are sorted out and that could prejudice Scottish pupils' chances.

"Ron Tuck has resigned, but I don't think that in itself will be sufficient and I think pressure will continue to mount on Mr Galbraith. After all, he's the one who is responsible for the Scottish education system."

And Tory education spokesman Brian Monteith said: "I respect his decision to resign. I think he has taken an honourable course of action and Sam Galbraith should seriously be examining his conscience to see if he has done enough to prevent the chaos. We will no doubt be grilling him in due course."

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Executive said: "I can assure you that Mr Galbraith will not be resigning. He has made his position very clear. All efforts are being made to resolve the situation as quickly as possible and an independent inquiry will be set up at the earliest opportunity."

The SQA has rejected claims that the integrity of this year's results was in question.

A statement said: "SQA is giving the highest priority to ensuring public confidence in the exam process is maintained. In view of the concerns, SQA is immediately implementing a series of checks on the results and the processes that were used."

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