Ofqual | Schools Week

Tell us why pupils’ exam grades will be withheld, heads tell Ofqual

Headteachers are demanding Ofqual come clean over why pupils might have exam grades “withheld” this summer. Ofqual’s chair and chief regulator last week warned results could be withheld should an exam board and school not agree on the teacher-assessed grade awarded. We have asked these questions, but have not been able to elicit any further […]

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 […]

It turns out teachers aren’t being trusted on grades

On Thursday evening, Ofqual sneaked out a major and fundamental shift in the quality assurance process for this summer’s cancelled exams, almost literally under the cover of darkness. It came in a friendly, seemingly innocuous blog, rather than in proper revised guidance; it feels like a gut punch to teachers and schools, delivered by an […]

‘Frankly scandalous’: ASCL challenges Ofqual over student work checks

School leaders’ union ASCL is challenging Ofqual over ‘scandalous’ plans announced yesterday for every school to provide samples of student work within two days of being asked as part of the teacher grade quality assurance process. Geoff Barton, the union’s general secretary, said Ofqual “must not collect evidence from schools and colleges that it has no […]

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 […]

Heads plan greater weighting on ‘exam-style papers’ for teacher assessment grades

Over half of leaders plan to give greater weighting to “exam-style papers” than other forms of assessment when issuing grades this summer, a union survey has revealed. The poll of 521 members of the ASCL school leaders’ union also found that around one in 14 respondents plan to base grades on exam-style papers alone, despite […]

GCSE and A-levels: Ofqual reveals quality assurance evidence requirements

Schools will have to provide samples of student work within two days of being asked under the quality assurance process for teacher assessed grades this year. It is the latest Ofqual update to the grading process this year – with just under eight weeks to go until the submission deadline on June 18. In a […]

Ofqual reveals more about how 2021 grade appeals will work

Pupils on grade borderlines are unlikely to be marked up at appeal even if the evidence showed they could have got a higher grade, draft Ofqual appeals guidance suggests. The exams regulator has published draft guidance on the appeals process for general qualifications this summer following the cancellation of exams and move to teacher assessments. […]

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, […]