exams 2020 | Schools Week

The Interview: Roger Taylor

Roger Taylor, the former chair of Ofqual, has spent much of his life thinking and writing about transparency and data. Here he says why no algorithm would have worked – and why Ofqual didn’t share it “An unsolvable problem.” That is how Roger Taylor, former chair of Ofqual, describes what the regulator was tasked with […]

Ex-Ofqual chair: ‘Gross miscalculation’ caused 2020 exams fiasco

Last year’s exams fiasco resulted from a “gross miscalculation about what was a reasonable and acceptable way to treat people”, Ofqual’s former chair has said, as he admitted the regulator knew “that in many cases people would be given the wrong grade”. Of course we knew that it wouldn’t be wholly accurate and we knew […]

Appeals against 2020 grades stutter on eight months after fiasco

Pupils and their families are still fighting teacher grades eight months after they were awarded last year, despite ministers promising a “swift” appeals process. While pupils could not appeal last year if they disagreed with their school’s professional judgment of the grade, they could make complaints about bias, discrimination and malpractice. Nick Gibb, the schools […]

DfE knew scale of result downgrades before 2020 exams fiasco

The Department for Education knew the full scale of downgraded results before the 2020 exams fiasco, a Schools Week investigation has established. Emails from officials also show the department knew of – and was pressing Ofqual – about the “outlier” grades issue a week before results day. It was a mistake not to hold a […]

Almost six in ten students improved GCSE grades in autumn exams

Almost 60 per cent of students who took autumn exams in GCSE subjects other than English and maths improved on their grades issued in the summer, new data shows. The Joint Council for Qualifications has published results for all remaining GCSE exams taken in the autumn. English language and maths results were published in January, […]

Boards return just 25% of fees for cancelled exams

Exam boards gave back to schools just a quarter of the exam fees paid last year. The country’s three main boards had pledged to return any savings after exams were cancelled last summer. The boards are waiting to find out the final exam replacement plans before amending their fees for this year. AQA, the UK’s […]

Exam appeals soared in 2020 following process change

The number of appeals against GCSE and A-level exam grades soared this year as a result of the exams fiasco and a change to the appeals process, while the proportion upheld also increased, new data shows. However, exams regulator Ofqual has cautioned against “direct comparisons” with previous years, which it said were “not valid” due […]

Ofqual chair Roger Taylor to stand down

The chair of exams regulator Ofqual is to stand down at the end of the year. Roger Taylor, who has been a member of the organisation’s board since 2012 and its chair since 2016, will be replaced by academy trust leader Ian Bauckham on an interim basis pending a “fair and open” competition to find […]

Williamson told education committee to keep exam meeting details secret

A Parliamentary committee was asked to keep details of meetings about this summer’s exams fiasco secret in return for “summaries” of key documents, it has emerged. In September, the education select committee requested all correspondence and minutes of meetings held between the Department for Education and Ofqual about the summer exams. It also asked for […]