Teaching union NASUWT’s national official Mike Corbett said that any move to remove or reduce exams will need to carefully consider the potential implications for both students and teachers.

“Teachers have past experience of unwieldy and bureaucratic SQA processes around coursework elements, as indeed does the Cabinet Secretary, and such processes must be avoided in any new system,” he said.

“Placing greater emphasis on personal achievements and extra-curricular activities through a Scottish diploma, while perhaps helping us to move away from a system dominated by high-stakes exams, also has the potential to disadvantage pupils from lower-income backgrounds if not handled carefully and sensitively.”