Ofqual | Schools Week

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 […]

Ofqual accused of ‘scapegoating’ heads’ union over deflated grades fall-out

Ofqual has been accused of trying to “scapegoat” a headteachers’ union amid the fall-out over deflated grades. The regulator has been facing challenges to offer an appeal route for schools that followed advice to mark down their own teacher grades in line with historical results. Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and […]

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 […]

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. […]

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 […]

Schools that deflated own grades can’t appeal, says Ofqual

Schools that followed advice to mark down their own teacher grades will not be allowed to appeal because they did not make an error, Ofqual has said. The regulator has confirmed today that schools “cannot raise concerns about its CAGs on the basis that another institution took a different approach, that different teachers could have come […]

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 […]

Sally Collier to be replaced by Dame Glenys Stacey as Ofqual chief regulator

The chief regulator of Ofqual Sally Collier is to leave following the exams fiasco that has engulfed England in recent weeks and be replaced by her predecessor, Schools Week has learned. Dame Glenys Stacey, who served in the role from 2011 to 2016, will take up the role again in an acting capacity until December, […]

Scotland withdraws all downgraded exam grades

Scotland will withdraw around a quarter of standardised exam grades issued last week, in a move that raises questions for the UK government ahead of A-level and GCSE results days. In a major climbdown, John Swinney, the Scottish education minister, today announced that more than 124,000 centre-assessment grades that were downgraded during the standardisation process will […]