A set of principles to ensure that students are assessed fairly
following the cancellation of exams in England has been drawn up
by six education unions and professional associations.
It calls for recognition of the widely varying extent to which
students have been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, clear
guidance and support for schools and colleges, assessment based
on a range of evidence, and strong external quality assurance
processes.
The principles also make clear that appeals must be handled by
awarding organisations rather than this responsibility being
landed on schools and colleges.
Ofqual and the Department for Education are expected to release
final plans later this month about how students taking GCSEs,
A-levels, and other qualifications will be assessed this summer.
This follows a consultation exercise which closed last Friday (29
January).
Now the Association of Colleges (AoC), Association of School and
College Leaders (ASCL), National Association of Head Teachers
(NAHT), National Education Union (NEU), NASUWT teachers’ union,
and National Governance Association (NGA) have joined together to
draw up a set of principles to underpin a system that is fair and
consistent. This is in addition to their own individual responses
to the consultation.
The principles include:
Awarding organisations should set out what standard is required
for students to achieve each grade and these standards should
recognise that students may have studied less of the course than
usual due to the pandemic. Students should be able to demonstrate
a standard of work in the content they have been taught. The
standards should be consistent across all awarding organisations.
Schools and colleges should be able to assess students on a range
of evidence, with clear criteria from the awarding organisations
about the types of evidence that can be used. Awarding
organisations should provide support, guidance and assessment
materials.
Schools and colleges should be given clear and consistent
guidance from awarding organisations about how to conduct
internal quality assurance, and all schools and colleges may be
moderated and required to provide evidence to the awarding
organisation for the grades they have submitted for some
students.
Awarding organisations retain responsibility for issuing grades,
and appeals should therefore be made directly to awarding
organisations, and not to schools and colleges as suggested in
the Ofqual/ DfE consultation.
David Hughes, Chief Executive of the Association of Colleges,
said: “Students being assessed in 2021 have faced unprecedented
differential disruption to their learning and they deserve the
best chance at success. We understand the challenges of
developing alternatives to an exam series and believe this set of
principles will be key to ensuring the system for all
qualifications achieves fairness and builds confidence.”
Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and
College Leaders, said: “It is imperative that students are
assessed as fairly and consistently as possible following the
cancellation of exams, and that we avoid any repeat of the chaos
of last summer. We believe that the principles we have jointly
set out will give us the best chance of achieving that
objective.”
Paul Whiteman, General Secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT,
said: “It’s important for young people’s sake that schools and
colleges are able to award students the grades they deserve this
year, allowing them to move forward with their chosen next steps.
The education profession believes these principles will help that
happen.”
Dr Patrick Roach, General Secretary of the NASUWT, said: “The
impact of this pandemic has resulted in entirely unprecedented
pressures on teachers and school and college leaders. Therefore,
it is imperative that the solution for qualifications this summer
takes full account of the extraordinary conditions in which
school and college staff are working by avoiding the addition of
excessive and unnecessary workload burdens on teachers and
leaders.”
Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the NEU, said: “There
are many details still to be finalised after the close of the
consultation, but this document shows there is clear consensus
amongst the profession on many of the issues. For the sake of
grades which are as fair and consistent as possible for all
students, it is important that DfE and Ofqual now take on board
the principles laid out here.”
Emma Knights, Chief Executive of the National Governance
Association, said: “The uncertainty and tension generated by
trying to establish a reasonable and unbiased alternative to
exams for 2021 has required a joint and practical response from
the education sector. Pupils, parents, staff and headteachers
along with their governing boards have already endured so much
strain because of this pandemic, and while a perfect solution is
impossible, a rapid and fair response as laid out through these
principles can and must be delivered without further delay.”
