• Call for resits as over 1,000 hit by Oxbridge admissions exam glitches

    School exam managers and admissions experts are demanding that pupils whose online Oxbridge admissions exams were hit with technical problems are allowed to resit the tests. Schools Week can reveal that one in eight pupils who sat the BioMedical Admission Test (BMAT) – a total of 1,125 students – reported technical glitches during the exam.…

    17.00 Nov. 27th, 2020 | News

  • Private schools got biggest top A-levels boost after grade U-turn

    Private schools still saw the biggest boost in top grades at A-level following this year’s exams fiasco, despite the decision to issue centre-assessment grades. The Department for Education has published analysis of A-level grades issued this summer, following the decision to let school-provided grades stand if they were higher than calculated grades issued by exam…

    10.51 Nov. 26th, 2020 | News

  • Pressure grows for uni admissions change as 2 in 3 students back post-qualification applications

    Ministers are under growing pressure to introduce post-qualification applications for university after research found most students believe applying after receiving their results would be fairer. A study by the Sutton Trust into reforming university admissions found that 66 per cent of just over 500 students surveyed in September felt a post-qualification approach would be fairer…

    0.01 Oct. 29th, 2020 | News

  • ‘Dithering’ ministers urged to reveal 2021 exam plans

    Ministers have been told to stop “dithering” and give schools clarity on what will happen with exams next year, following the Scottish government’s decision to cancel some tests and push others back. Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, has promised exams will take place and that full plans – including whether or not they will be…

    11.00 Oct. 9th, 2020 | News

  • 20k autumn A-level 'resit' entries - with maths and science most popular

    There are more than 20,000 entries for the A-level ‘resits’ this autumn following the government’s summer grading debacle, new data has revealed. Exams regulator Ofqual revealed today the upcoming exams have 20,100 entries, representing three per cent of the total entries in the summer exam series. The autumn resits follow on from the disastrous summer…

    10.58 Oct. 1st, 2020 | News

  • Williamson's education committee exams hearing: 5 things we learned

    The education secretary faced questions about this year’s exams fiasco and the reopening of schools when he appeared in front of the Parliamentary education committee this morning. Gavin Williamson’s appearance in front of MPs follows a hearing last week with leaders from exams regulator Ofqual. Here’s what we learned from him.   1. DfE looking…

    13.16 Sep. 16th, 2020 | News

  • Exam board ‘proposed algorithm – then raised concerns about it’

    An exam board which revealed that it warned ministers of flaws with the ill-fated algorithm had actually proposed the approach adopted by the regulator in the first place. Cambridge Assessment, which runs exam board OCR, had originally submitted the direct centre performance (DCP) model that was chosen and then developed by Ofqual as its algorithm…

    7.00 Sep. 13th, 2020 | News

  • Ofqual cancels £80k media recovery plan

    Ofqual has abandoned plans to spend £80,000 on media strategists to lead its “recovery plan” following the exams fiasco. The exams regulator had run a tender to recruit a “senior press office service to provide media advice and strategy”. The contract for the 15-week project, worth up to £80,000, was due to start this week.…

    19.00 Sep. 11th, 2020 | News

  • Revealed: Ofqual warned of algorithm legal risk

    Ofqual warned the government that exam boards could face legal challenges over the issuing of statistically moderated grades, newly published Covid-19 planning documents have revealed.  A contingency planning document sent to the government on March 16 sets out numerous risks associated with using the controversial approach which ignited last month’s exams grading fiasco .  The…

    19.11 Sep. 10th, 2020 | News

  • Ofqual to face grilling by MPs over exams fiasco

    Leaders from exams regulator Ofqual will appear in front of MPs next week to answer questions about this year’s A-levels and GCSEs fiasco – but outgoing boss Sally Collier will not be with them. Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, will also “likely” face questions about the government’s handling of the crisis when he appears in…

    14.08 Aug. 28th, 2020 | News

  • ASCL writes to Ofqual over 'deflated grades' fears

    The Association of School and College Leaders has written to Ofqual and the government “as a matter of urgency”, amid concerns that pupils at schools that followed advice to mark down their own teacher grades have been “punished by that process”. Geoff Barton, ASCL’s general secretary, said that some of his members who deflated grades…

    13.58 Aug. 26th, 2020 | News