The EHRC said it was “concerned” over the proposals of the Scottish Qualification Authority.

Fiona Robertson, the SQA chief executive, was questioned by members of Holyrood’s Education and Skills Committee over the plans last week. She said the authority was working with the EHRC to ensure the policy is legal.

The commission said, however, that it was still “concerned that the SQA have been unable to demonstrate that they have considered any equality issues in their work in this area, or that they have met their legal duties in this regard”.

The Sunday Mail reported that Lesley Sawers, Scotland commissioner for the EHRC, had acknowledged the problems the education system faced during the coronavirus pandemic.

Dr Sawers said: “It’s also difficult for pupils. After years of hard work, control of their qualifications will be taken out of their hands.

“If we don’t get this right, the future of some disadvantaged young people is at risk. Research suggests there may be patterns of conscious or unconscious bias when estimating grades.

“With this in mind, there’s a danger that predicting grades may have an adverse impact on some disadvantaged groups. We will continue to work to ensure the SQA meet their obligations to undertake and publish an equality impact assessment of their alternative accreditation model and of the policies and processes which will follow.”

An SQA spokesman said: “As a public body, SQA is covered by equality legislation and we are, of course, ensuring we meet our obligations by producing an equality impact assessment on our approach to certification this year.

“We have already made that clear to the education and skills committee and the EHRC. It is also our intention to publish the assessment.”