Ofqual seeks views on ability of teachers to leak exam questions

Exam regulator wants to hear from teachers who taught “alongside colleagues who had access to confidential assessment materials”
28th September 2017, 11:53am

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Ofqual seeks views on ability of teachers to leak exam questions

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/ofqual-seeks-views-ability-teachers-leak-exam-questions
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The exams regulator has called for evidence about serving teachers who also set exam papers, following claims some have leaked questions to their students.

It forms part of Ofqual’s review of the rules about teachers setting exam papers after the concerns received national publicity this summer.

Ofqual last month announced it would “investigate whether the safeguards in place are sufficiently robust and whether changes are needed”.

Today, it said: “Despite the safeguards in place, we hear of a very small number of allegations or suspicions that teachers who have contributed to exam paper development have disclosed confidential information to their students or their colleagues.”

In its call for evidence, Ofqual said there are “significant advantages” to involving current teachers in writing question papers, adding: “They are uniquely placed to predict how students of differing abilities will respond to questions, supporting the appropriate targeting of papers.

“They are also a readily available source of expertise, so awarding organisations do not have to employ permanent in-house subject experts.”

It adds: “However, we are now reviewing the relative benefits and risks of teachers being involved with developing exams and the effectiveness of the safeguards that are used to prevent or reduce the risks of disclosure.”

In this morning’s call for evidence, the regulator said it wanted to hear views on issues including “the effectiveness of the safeguards used to prevent disclosure”, and “the ability of a teacher who knows the content of an exam to disregard that when preparing their students for the same exam”.

It is also asking for views about how current safeguards could be strengthened.

Ofqual also wants to hear from people with experience from other sectors or countries.

It wants to hear from people who:

  • have been involved with developing exam materials
  • have taught alongside colleagues who had access to confidential assessment materials before the exams were taken
  • were taught by teachers who knew, or said they knew, what was going to be included in specific exams

The deadline for giving evidence is 5pm on 31 October.

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