Reassigning grades based on mock results is unreliable, as some students cheat on the exams or are made aware of key content in advance, teachers have warned.
Schools minister Nick Gibb has today defended the government’s “eleventh-hour” decision to allow mock exam results to be used for official A-level and GCSE grades, after appeals.
But teachers have claimed mocks have “little validity”, as they do not provide a level playing field for students.
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One teacher said the Department for Education had “created a monster” by allowing mock results to be used in place of official grades, as the practice tests were “unreliable”.
And an A-level maths teacher and AQA exam marker warned that mocks were open to cheats.
He tweeted: “Despite being an @AQAMaths exam marker, when marking as a teacher I mark more harshly; students take note of their incorrect work more than their correct work.
“Also, some students cheat on their mocks. For both reasons, mocks have very little validity.”
Despite being an @AQAMaths exam marker, when marking as a teacher I mark more harshly; students take note of their incorrect work more than their correct work.
Also, some students cheat on their mocks.
For both reasons, mocks have very little validity. @GavinWilliamson
- Mr Cawley (@MrCawleyMaths) August 12, 2020
Other teachers took to social media to highlight the fact some students are told the content of the tests in advance, while mock exam security is likely “not up to scratch”.
Assistant head Mark Shepstone tweeted: “I was chatting to a teacher at a school near me a little while ago. They were annoyed as within the dept (of 3), one had told his classes what would be on the mock. The other 2 hadn’t.
“Their mock results weren’t even fair or reliable within their school.”
James Handscombe, principal of Harris Westminster Sixth Form, said one issue with using mocks is “exam security was probably not up to scratch (and certainly nobody has checked that it was)”.
4) You probably didn’t cover the whole syllabus
5) Your exam security was probably not up to scratch (and certainly nobody has checked that it was)
6) Students won’t have been given as much revision time/support & will not all have treated mocks in the way they treat final exams.
- James Handscombe (@JamesHandscombe) August 12, 2020
Teacher Steve Wren highlighted a number of potential flaws in using mocks to assign grades, including “equality issues between students”.
“Some schools provide a very detailed revision list for mocks, others treat it like the real thing and students go in ‘blind’,” he said.
Sharing Mr Wren’s tweets, teacher Emma Stanley said: “Just a small number of reasons why mock exams are unreliable. The DfE have created a monster here.”
And teacher Ian Hyland said assigning grades back on mock results will be a “mess”, partly because “students often know topics beforehand”.
Students often know topics beforehand.
Often not full length, or have longer than real exam.
Only 1 small part of 1 or 2 papers tested
Doesn’t include NEA mark
Not marked by examiners
Not under real exam conditions.
This will be a mess! But that’s no surprise at the moment.
- Ian Hyland (@ichyland) August 12, 2020
In comments to Times Radio, Mr Gibb said mocks would have to have been sat under proper exam conditions if they are to be used to provide a final grade.
He said: “This is something that the regulator Ofqual will have more to say about later, but it does need to be a mock that is sat under exam conditions.
“That’s why the appeal comes from the school - they will have to certify that this was sat under exam conditions and so on.”
