There are calls for the exams watchdog to expedite the publication of data showing the proportion of challenges leading to grade changes, to address widespread concerns over the quality of marking.
Schools are reporting that a higher proportion of pupils’ results in the new GCSEs - especially in English - have improved significantly after re-marks this year.
Ofqual normally publishes the national figures on re-marks just before the Christmas holidays - around four months after results day - but Anne Heavey, education policy adviser of the NEU teaching union, said that accelerating this would enable “more transparency” in the exam system.
Malcolm Trobe, public affairs director at the Association of School and College Leaders, added: “There are clearly issues emerging. Ideally, we would like the information earlier. The sooner they can get all the public figures out into the public arena the better.”
Last month, the Grammar School Heads’ Association (GSHA) met to discuss these concerns. Jim Skinner, chief executive of the GSHA, said the picture being painted around GCSE English “underlies the problems that were there in the initial marking.”
He said: “There seems to have been greater turbulence from one year to another than normal. There has been cause for concern in terms of the quality and the consistency of marking.”
Michelle Meadows, executive director for strategy, risk and research at Ofqual, said: “We take the quality of exam marking very seriously.
“We are still collecting data on reviews of marking for the 2017 summer exams, which will be published in December, and will be looking closely at what they say.
She added: “These are official statistics produced in line with guidance from the Office of National Statistics and, as such, are always published as soon as possible. We follow guidance from the ONS not to comment on official statistics ahead of publication.”
But the increased emphasis on exams in the reformed, more linear, GCSEs and A levels has sharpened the spotlight on the quality of marking.
A working group on building the capacity of examiners said in January that an extra 7,000 teachers would be needed as examiners to cope with the pressures created by exam reforms.
The group, made up of exam boards and headteachers’ associations, said in its report that teachers’ participation was a “prerequisite” to the system delivering the right results.
But Tes has learned that the group has met only once since January - despite the introduction of major exam reforms - and one of their recommendations for encouraging teachers to become examiners has been dropped because it was unpopular with unions.
Tes understands that a proposed award - which would have rewarded schools and colleges that promoted examining to their staff - was quietly dropped behind the scenes months after the launch.
Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, said that it opposed the scheme because it was concerned that it would lead to schools using performance management and appraisal systems “to put undue pressure on already overstretched teachers to become markers”.
“Teachers may have been left in a position where they felt that they had no option to undertake work for awarding bodies, whether they wanted to or not,” she added.
A second award - which will recognise examiners who commit to exam boards for at least three years - is still set to go ahead. But the English exam boards are yet to hand out any certificates.
This is an edited article from the 3 November edition of Tes. Subscribers can read the full article here. To subscribe, click here. This week’s Tes magazine is available in all good newsagents. To download the digital edition, Android users can click here and iOS users can click here
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