Three in five schools plan to rely on tests when deciding GCSE and A-level grades – even though official exams are cancelled A survey by the school leaders’ union ASCL found seven per cent of schools will base assessments entirely on exam-style papers Fifty three per cent said they would give greater weight to exam-style … Read more
Headteachers warn pushy parents their child’s grades may be CUT if they try to bully teachers Ofqual says any attempt to interfere with assessments breaches the rules Exams watchdog added a pupil’s results can be quashed if malpractice found Schools and colleges will use a range of evidence to decide students’ grades By Julie Henry For … Read more
At the start of the year it looked as though the fiasco of 2020’s exam results, in which thousands of children were unfairly downgraded by an algorithm, would be averted for this year’s cohort. The Education Secretary seemed determined to press ahead with tests, albeit with certain caveats, in order to ensure the fairest possible … Read more
Gavin Williamson today tried to quell fears over a ‘Wild West’ system for GCSEs and A-Levels as experts warned his plan could be even worse than last year’s hated algorithm. The Education Secretary confirmed that teachers will have control over the marks their pupils get, but insisted there will be ‘meaningful checks’ and ‘quality assurance’, with … Read more
Pupils could be told to sit mini-exams to help teachers calculate A-level and GCSE results as Gavin Williamson rules out using an algorithm after last summer’s debacle Ministers today said they will not use an algorithm to calculate student grades Decision to use algorithm last year descended into chaos and prompted U-turn Gavin Williamson raised … Read more
Pupils could be told to sit mini-exams to help teachers calculate A-level and GCSE results as Gavin Williamson rules out using an algorithm after last summer’s debacle Ministers today said they will not use an algorithm to calculate student grades Decision to use algorithm last year descended into chaos and prompted U-turn Gavin Williamson raised … Read more
Poorer students who fail to get top A-Levels will be offered a free foundation year at the University of Cambridge under a new £5 million scheme to help talented youngsters who have fallen on hard times. The scheme – for those who miss out on the prestigious institution’s high entry requirements – will be introduced … Read more
There have been more than 1,000 outbreaks of coronavirus in educational settings since schools reopened in September, the Government’s scientific advisers have suggested. An outbreak or cluster is classed by Public Health England (PHE) as two or more positive cases of Covid-19 related to one setting. A document released by the Scientific Advisory Group for … Read more
The UK admissions body is calling for an overhaul of the university application process to allow A Level students access to more accurate information before they decide their future. Ucas, the body behind university admissions in the UK, says the system of using predicted grades for university applications is unreliable and can penalise disadvantaged students … Read more
Wales should scrap GCSE exams next summer and instead award grades on pupils’ coursework and assessments, a testing regulator has said. Qualifications Wales said A-Level students should continue to be graded as normal, but younger pupils should face a relaxed system. It comes after the summer’s exam season turned into a fiasco as tests were … Read more