SCHOOLS NorthEast today submitted a response to Ofqual’s consultation on marking reviews, appeals, grade boundaries and Code of Practice, in our latest drive to lobby for change in the system.
Working closely with Head Teachers in the region, the submission sets out a solutions-focused approach that would see Ofqual play a more proactive role in driving up standards in exam board marking, as well a transition to an ‘intelligent review system’.
Heads across the region also called on Ofqual to develop a stronger Quality Assurance programme and to make the move to a standardised national timeline for the exam marking and review process.
The consultation was launched in December, citing three main proposals:
the review and appeal systems used by exam boards in England for addressing concerns about a candidate’s GCSE, AS or A level marks;
updating the rules that give effect to exam boards’ review appeal systems; and
new rules for how exam boards should set grade boundaries for new and legacy GCSEs, AS and A levels.
You can read the SCHOOLS NorthEast response here.
This is the latest in an ongoing series of work by SCHOOLS NorthEast launched last October to address a lack of confidence among the region’s schools in the exam board marking and review system.
It started with SCHOOLS NorthEast submitting evidence to the Education Select Committee for a session with former Chief Regulator Dame Glenys Stacey and Ofqual Chair Amanda Spielman. This was in response to the crisis sparked by the lack of confidence in the regulator, following this summer’s exam results.
The evidence was cited by Ian Mearns MP during the session, and this resulted in a highly productive meeting between Ms Spielman and North East Head Teachers; you can read more about it here.
