Examiners have uncovered shockingly poor standards in Standard Grade and Higher exams, including some candidates who didn’t understand basic instructions such as “describe” and “explain”, and others who couldn’t convert minutes into hours.

Assessors’ reports published by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) reveal how markers were left frustrated by candidates unable to grasp simple concepts or to answer questions intelligibly.

As well as poor understanding and illegible handwriting, there was also evidence of plagiarism, with entire classes handing in almost identical pieces of work.

In the report for this year’s Standard Grade biology exam, schools were advised to explain the meaning of the words “name”, “describe” and “explain” because, examiners said, some pupils did not understand them.

In the Higher English exam, more complaints than ever were reported about poor handwriting leading to suggestions that some pupils should sit the exam next year on computers. Markers also criticised poor punctuation and said some candidates were using implausible arguments to “fit” questions they had not prepared for.

In Standard Grade mathematics, many pupils struggled to convert minutes into hours and could not work out how many days were in a three- month period.

Markers at Higher history level raised concerns about copying after whole classes of pupils handed in virtually the same piece of work for the extended essay part of the exam. Some modern studies candidates answered questions about American politics using British examples.

Jim Doherty, the assistant general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association, said the reports revealed that too many pupils were being entered for exams prematurely.

“It is very well established that too many kids are sitting exams, particularly in English, which they are not prepared for,” he said. “The fact that many are not using their own words is perhaps indicative of a suspicion of coaching.

“It is probably true that, because of the demands of the education system, punctuation is not taught as it was 20 years ago. Words like name, describe and explain shouldn’t need to be explained to candidates: they ought to understand it. I don’t think you can criticise teachers; they should know the concept of these words.”

Liz Smith MSP, the education spokeswoman for the Scottish Conservatives said: “There is a growing concern about a lack of basic standards, particularly in reading and writing skills.

“Businesses have concerns that people coming into the employment market don’t seem to have the skills required for straightforward tasks and that’s not good enough.

“There needs to be much more rigorous testing of reading, writing and arithmetic skills in the primary school. The government has got it wrong in having stand-alone tests in S4 because that’s far too late for many pupils to actually grasp these basic skills.” This year’s exam results showed pass rates for Higher exams reached a record high of 74.2%, up from 73.4% last year.

Among Standard Grade pupils, 98.5% passed, up from 98% in 2008.

Brian Boyd, professor of education at the University of Strathclyde, said some of the errors were not surprising due to the high-pressure nature of the examination process.

“As long as we are marching kids into halls, having them sit in silence and making them write as fast as they can, you will find they will make mistakes,” he said.

“A better mix of internal and external assessment is needed to assess youngsters in a variety of different contexts which would take longer and cost more. Any government needs to balance the competing demands of whether they want to do it properly or as cheaply as they can.

“There is a huge amount of time spent on getting kids to be able to do enough to get them through an examination to the detriment of the kind of education which will give them the depth they often don’t exhibit in the examination system. It’s about second-guessing what will be in the exam and understanding becomes a luxury.”

A spokesman for the SQA said some of the examples mentioned in external assessment reports were “at the extreme negative end of the spectrum”.

“They are a very important resource for teachers in that they give an overall view as to how candidates have engaged with the examination or task.

“In order to share good practice, they highlight areas where candidates have performed well and, in order to help teachers with the preparation of future candidates, they highlight also areas which candidates have found demanding.

“Teachers will use the content of these reports to help inform and refine their approaches to teaching and learning to ensure that candidates will have the best possible opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in the examination or task.”

A Scottish government spokesman pointed to the improvements in exam results and said the Curriculum for Excellence was “driving forward improvements in teaching and learning to raise standards and prepare young people for life in the 21st century”.

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