Submitting pupil work so exam boards can check teacher assessed grades “should not take too long” and will ensure teachers’ holidays are not interrupted, Ofqual’s boss has said.
It follows uproar last week after the regulator announced in a blog post that every school will have to provide samples of student work within two days of being asked. Exam boards will only check the evidence used in a sample of centres under the quality assurance process.
The collection and submission should be able to be managed by exams office staff with minimal call on teachers
School leaders’ union ASCL branded the plans “scandalous” and has challenged the decision. It also led to questions about the government’s determination to “trust teachers” this year.
Today, Ofqual’s interim chief regulator Simon Lebus said they have asked schools to do this so that exam boards have “evidence from every centre available” as they carry out quality assurance after grades are submitted by June 18.
He said the submissions will “avoid the need for exam boards to contact centres after the end of term when teachers should be taking a much-needed rest during the summer holidays”.
“We are very conscious of teacher workload,” Lebus added. “The sample is relatively small and should not take too long for exams officers to submit.”
In updated guidance today, Ofqual say exam boards have “very little time” between submission of grades and the end of term to request evidence.
They add that it also provides “reassurance” that any centre’s evidence will be available to review “if necessary”.
It reads: “The sample size is relatively modest, in recognition of the workload on centres, and the collection and submission of it should be able to be managed by exams office staff with minimal call on teachers or heads of centre.”
Exam boards will request evidence for at least 1 A level subject and 2 GCSE subjects in the week of June 21.
Ofqual says that boards will “do their best” to make sure a centre will only have to submit evidence to one board “but this may not be possible in every case”.
Let’s be very clear, the reason teachers are doing this work is to benefit our students, who have had a raw deal. However, we are also getting Ofqual out of a very big hole after last year’s fiasco. The very least he could do is to thank us properly. If he can’t bring himself to do that then an acknowledgment would be better. Saying that ‘it shouldn’t take too long’ feels like a slap in the face.