News

Ofqual drops requirement for heads to declare pupils have learned enough to ‘progress’

Ofqual has dropped a proposed requirement for heads to declare that GCSE and A-level students have been taught enough to allow them to progress to the next stage in their education when submitting grades this year.

In its response to the assessments consultation last month, Ofqual said heads would have to sign a declaration stating, among other things, that students had “completed sufficient content” to enable them to progress when submitting teacher assessment grades.

Simon Lebus, the regulator’s interim chief, said in a blog post to students at the time that Ofqual was asking heads to “confirm that you have been taught enough content so that you can progress to the next stage of your education”.

But the paragraph has not been included in the final declaration provided by exam boards today, after it was shelved by Ofqual following a technical consultation in its plans.

Instead, the declaration will state that students have been “taught sufficient content to provide the basis for a grade”.

The regulator said there were “concerns” that the original wording around sufficient content for progression was “not easy to define” and would vary by “qualification and grade”, as well as students’ intended destinations.

ofqual
A declaration included in JCQ guidance

 

In the centre declaration, heads will have to confirm that “each student has been taught (or in the case of private students, has studied) an appropriate amount of content to form the basis for a grade”.

It also includes a clause to confirm that the judgements “have not been influenced by pressure from students or parents/carers”.

Exam boards will investigate “credible” allegations of malpractice or issues reported from the monitoring processes that “raise concerns about a failure to follow the published requirements for determining grades”.

They list examples including where grades are created for students who have not been taught sufficient content to provide the basis for their grade.

Latest education roles from

Biology GCSE Tutor (Variable Hours)

Biology GCSE Tutor (Variable Hours)

Richmond and Hillcroft Adult & Community College

Work Experience Support Assistant

Work Experience Support Assistant

Bournemouth and Poole College

EHCP & SEND Administrator

EHCP & SEND Administrator

Bournemouth and Poole College

Director of Governance

Director of Governance

Stanmore College

Lecturer in Policing and Public Services

Lecturer in Policing and Public Services

West Suffolk College

Part Time Variable Hours Tutor of Construction and the Built Environment

Part Time Variable Hours Tutor of Construction and the Built Environment

York College

Your thoughts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

One comment

  1. M Clarke

    My daughters school is supposed to be providing free lunches for pupil premium students however after schools shut last March my daughter received two lunches for the whole year because on both occasions she was provided with food that was not gluten free despite school knowing it was required however when I contacted them I was told that they could not provide meals and it was normal meals provided or nothing.
    My point is how many children didn’t receive meals because catering company never provided for special diets and what happened to money they were given to provide meals did anyone check if they still collected it regardless of failure to provide meals and why this year are they still not providing proper meals for students.