THE Inspectorate, which rebutts the claims, says an unpublished survey of 37 English departments, carried out in January, showed half had found time to familiarise themselves with assessment tasks and related marking schemes. But staff were not invited to challenge the principal of internal assessment.
Although lack of time was cited by a number of departments, HMI found that most were beginning to overcome difficulties in what is the first year of implementing the changes, although just over half of those surveyed felt pupils were suffering from assessment overload.
Th report concludes: “There was a general feeling that internal assessment was good for establishing positive work rates from the outset and ensuring these throughout the course.”
The Educational Institute of Scotland has also been grappling with internal assessment problems, which, the union’s executive council failed to resolve at its January meeting.
The annual conference last June called for the removal of internal assessment at Higher Still but officials said this presented “something of a dilemma” since the institute was not opposed to it at other stages.