John Swinney has been accused of trying to plaster over major underlying problems in Scotland’s schools by introducing a new ‘E’ grade for National and Higher exams so fewer pupils fail them.

A working group chaired by the Deputy First Minister is considering allowing pupils to lower the mark required for the qualifications to just 35 per cent, which would be graded ‘E’.

Currently the lowest mark required is 45 per cent for a ‘D’ but the group is also considering lowering the threshold for this grade to 40 per cent.

But Holyrood’s opposition parties and business leaders warned that tampering with grade boundaries would create greater confusion about the value of the qualifications. Labour described it as a “panic measure”.

The changes are being proposed to offset the unintended consequences of Mr Swinney’s recent decision to ease teachers’ workloads by scrapping mandatory unit assessments for the qualifications.

The Education Minister announced in September that a strengthened final exam and externally assessed coursework will replace assessments for National 5 and Highers.

However, it is feared that a greater number of weaker students who struggle in exam situations will end up leaving school without qualifications.