The head of England’s exams watchdog has told MPs that a surge in the number of GCSE grade changes this year was the fault of exam boards that failed to follow new rules on re-marking.
Sally Collier, chief regulator at Ofqual, said she was “very disappointed” with the 52% increase in grade changes this summer, which followed reforms aimed at tightening up re-marking, and she promised action to ensure it didn’t happen again.
Giving evidence to the Commons education select committee, Collier said Ofqual was currently in discussion with exam boards about what went wrong, but an investigation had already shown there were no problems with the original marking.
“We’ve had a look at marking consistency metrics across all of the exam boards and the level of consistency in that marking was very similar to last year. So nothing happened in the original quality of marking that suggests there was a problem,” she said.
“There has been a problem with the reviewing,” she continued. “That problem is not consistent across the exam boards. Some exam boards have implemented it very well, and some exam boards haven’t.”
Previously, exam results that were challenged were re-marked in detail, with higher marks often the result of minor differences in opinion between markers. Under Ofqual’s reforms, marks are only supposed to be changed if a clear marking or procedural error is discovered.
Teachers’ leaders last week accused exam boards of creating a “massive muddle” after Ofqual data revealed that almost 74,000 GCSE grades were changed this summer, compared with just over 48,000 last year.
Of particular concern was the number of appeals that resulted in increases by two or more grades, which also rose significantly from 401 in 2016 to nearly 2,000 in 2017.
Collier told MPs: “I would not be able to talk about the specific regulatory action that we are taking with those exam boards that did not follow our rules, but we will ensure that it does not happen again in subsequent series.”
During the hearing on Tuesday, MPs also expressed concern about the potential “unfairness” of the current exam appeals system, which they said put wealthier schools and parents who could afford to request a re-mark at an unfair advantage. If the mark is changed there is no cost, but many schools will choose not to run that risk.
MPs called for the introduction of a deprivation measure to provide additional funding for children from deprived backgrounds to seek exam re-marks.
They also raised concerns about a 40% increase in the number of unconditional offers made by universities. Figures released last week by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service revealed that almost 52,000 unconditional offers were made to students seeking places this year.
The chair of Ofqual, Roger Taylor, told MPs: “From Ofqual’s point of view, it becomes particularly concerning at the point that it dramatically affects pupils’ motivation and the way that they approach qualifications.
“That can actually undermine the validity of the qualification. I don’t think we are at that point yet, but it’s something we need to keep a close eye on.”
