Showcase, Don’t Shrink: Why Low Uptake Courses Need Investment, Not Elimination.
As part of its qualifications reform process, Qualifications Scotland is proposing the removal of History topic options with “very low or no uptake”. Here’s why that’s a problem.
The Scottish qualifications landscape
Following the dissolution of the Scottish Qualifications Authority and the establishment of Qualifications Scotland (QS), the organisation has launched a programme to review and reform qualifications including National Course assessments.
Among the first phase of courses undergoing review are National 5 and Higher History. As part of this review, Qualifications Scotland has highlighted a number of topic options with “very low or no uptake” from across the three learning contexts of Scottish, British, and European and World History.
Schools have the autonomy to choose from a list of pre-determined topics to deliver across the three learning contexts, with the intention that this provides breadth as well as depth of history learning.
Why are there courses with “very low or no uptake”?
It is well established that some topics are taught at much higher rates than others. In the Scottish context, learners are most commonly offered the topic of the Wars of Independence or the experience of the Scots on the Western Front. At British level, learners are overwhelmingly taught about Britain’s involvement in the trade in enslaved African people, analysing the impacts and legacies of the trade and receiving their first exposure to themes of post-colonial history. At European and World level, there is great variety in topic options from the Crusades of the 11th and 12th centuries to the eventual fall of the Soviet Union. However, there are clear patterns of frequency in uptake within this context too.
It would be a mistake to assume that these patterns of uptake are a neutral reflection of educational value or learner and teacher interest. In reality, topic selection is shaped by broad and varied factors that influence what schools feel able and confident to deliver.
Familiarity and perceived relevance
One factor is the perceived relevance of particular topics to today’s learners. Subjects which feature prominently in Scotland’s cultural memory and general knowledge can appear more accessible to both teachers and learners. The enduring popularity of key figures such as Wallace and Bruce heightens the appeal of such topics, and improves access for learners who may already have encountered some of the topic’s themes through wider culture, media, or previous learning experiences.School habits and routines
Social Subjects departments across Scotland operate within a system placing significant emphasis on attainment and performance. In this environment, there can be a natural tendency to favour the courses with an established track record, existing resources, and teacher confidence.
When faced with already high demands on time and staffing, developing and introducing new topics can involve significantly greater risk than continuing with a well-established option. Over time, this limits experimentation and innovation, reducing opportunities for diverse topic selection across Scotland.Availability of resources
The availability of high-quality teaching resources may be another significant factor. Developing a course at the depth required for certificate-level involves substantial preparation of lesson materials, assessments, resources, and more.
For popular topics, schools can access a wide range of these resources within their own departments as well as in textbooks and online. By contrast, teachers looking to introduce a new, less frequently taught topic may find far fewer resources available, creating an additional barrier to adoption. The time taken for a teacher to develop a course and the accompanying extensive materials from scratch is unrealistic given the workload demands on classroom teachers.
Popularity as a self-reinforcing cycle
The factors outlined above suggest that low uptake is not simply a reflection of learner demand or the educational value of a topic. Rather, the patterns can be understood as a result of practical barriers, time and resource constraints, and long-established patterns of delivery that shape the choices available to schools and teachers
Popular topics continue to attract more resources, greater teacher familiarity, and frequent opportunities for innovation and development. As a result, they become increasingly easier to access and deliver, and therefore more attractive choices for schools.
Meanwhile, less frequently taught topics receive less attention, fewer resources are developed and shared among professionals, and fewer opportunities exist for teachers to build confidence in delivering them.
The appropriate response is not to remove topic options, but instead to address the factors that have contributed to their low uptake. Before reducing the breadth of historical study available to learners, more efforts must be made to understand and tackle the barriers that are preventing schools from engaging with the full range of existing options.
Alternatives to removal
Before removing topic options, Qualifications Scotland and wider educational stakeholders should first address the factors that may have contributed to low uptake.
If familiarity with and perceived relevance of particular topics influences their choice, then greater efforts should be made to help learners and teachers make meaningful early connections with less frequently taught areas of history. This could take place in line with the curriculum review to encourage engagement with a broader range of history topics from primary level. The fact that a topic is widely recognised or culturally familiar should not be mistaken for evidence of greater educational value. History education should expose learners to new and unfamiliar perspectives and experiences, and not simply seek to reinforce existing knowledge.
The established habits and routines of schools to deliver certain topics can be challenged by providing teachers the confidence and opportunity to broaden their course offerings. At department level, this could look like allowing teachers the autonomy to teach areas of specialism rather than following the same course for many years. More broadly, teachers must be given greater opportunities for professional learning and research. Providing teachers with time away from the classroom to engage with historical scholarship would build confidence in less familiar topics and support greater diversity in course selection.
Finally, if resource availability is a principal barrier, then targeted investment in high-quality teaching materials is essential. Many online resource hubs, textbooks, and support materials focus heavily on a relatively small number of the most popular topics. Expanding the range of resources available would reduce the workload associated with introducing new, less familiar topics, making them a more realistic choice for more schools.
Taken together, these measures would address the causes of low uptake rather than simply responding to it by narrowing the curriculum. Taking these steps would support the creation of more diverse History learning experiences across Scotland.
Next steps
Qualifications Scotland should seek to better understand why certain topics are less frequently selected before making decisions about their future. The qualifications system should not merely reflect existing patterns of provision and should instead actively encourage breadth and diversity of learning.
We call on Qualifications Scotland and other education stakeholders to investigate the barriers that are affecting topic uptake and address them with the positive action outlined above. Only after these barriers have been tackled can decisions about topic reform be made on a sound basis in a way that reflects educational values rather than reinforces the existing inequalities in access to learning.
Qualifications Scotland is currently gathering views from learners and educators about the proposed reforms. Share your views here.
The full list of at risk National Course topics are:
National 5:
The Treaty of Union, 1689-1715
War of the Three Kingdoms, 1603-1651
'Tea and Freedom': the American Revolution, 1774-1783
Mussolini and Fascist Italy, 1919-1939
Higher:
The century of revolutions, 1603-1702
The American Revolution, 1763-1787
Contributed by Poppi Roberts