exams | Schools Week

A new fiasco in the making? The flaws with Ofqual’s 2021 exams plan

The government has finally published its consultation revealing the plan to replace exams this year. In some quarters it has done little to quell the fear that we’re heading for another fiasco – but this time, with teachers left to cop the blame. Schools Week investigates … Move over mutant algorithm, we have a […]

Gavin Williamson update on spring partial closures: What did we learn?

The education secretary has given more information about the government’s contingency plans for schools, after it was announced that mainstream settings will move to remote education for most pupils. Here’s what we learned. 1. Teacher assessment to replace exams, but no algorithm The government had already announced that GCSE and A-level exams would not […]

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]

‘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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]