Responding to Ofqual’s consultation on arrangements for assessing
GCSEs, A-levels and other qualifications in summer 2021, Geoff
Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and
College Leaders, said:
“Ofqual’s consultation sets out sensible options for assessing
this summer’s GCSEs and A-levels following the cancellation of
exams.
“However, there are a number of important questions to be
resolved, particularly around exactly how externally-set papers
taken in the summer term will provide fairness and consistency
for students whose learning has been disrupted by the pandemic to
greatly varying extents.
“We can see how a set of papers with flexibility for teachers
over the choice of topics on which their students could answer
questions might achieve these objectives.
“However, these papers will need to be exceptionally well
designed, and this will be a huge challenge given that time is
short and nothing like this has been attempted before.
“The proposals avoid the pitfalls of last summer by jettisoning
any notion of trying to standardise grades by using an algorithm.
“However, this will mean that the support and guidance provided
to schools and colleges, and the quality assurance processes,
will need to be clear and logical in order to ensure that there
is consistency in how grades are awarded.
“All of this adds up to a huge and complex task for the exam
boards and we would be very happy to support them in this vital
work.
“We will respond in detail to the consultation in due course.”
