Fairness in awarding
This summer will be my twelfth at Ofqual. Each one has been different, but this one has been truly exceptional. However, over that time there has been one constant – fairness for students. This has always been at the heart …
Exams
Feeling worried about GCSE or A level results this year?
Posted by:
Prof. Kevin Woods and Dr. Tee McCaldin, Posted on:
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Categories:
A levels and GCSEs, Exams, Uncategorized
Prof. Kevin Woods and Dr. Tee McCaldin are both psychologists working at the University of Manchester Institute of Education. They have written several posts on coping with exam anxiety for our blog, and this latest one looks at ways to manage anxious feelings before exam results.
Reflections on the Summer Symposium
On Tuesday we held our annual Summer Symposium. Given the circumstances this summer, it was a webinar, meaning we could speak to many more people than usual. In relation to GCSEs, AS and A levels in England, we focused on …
The impact of the coronavirus outbreak on exams around the world
This year, exams and assessments in England have been cancelled to help stop the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19). Instead, for GCSEs, AS and A levels, and many similar vocational and technical qualifications taken for progression purposes, schools and colleges are …
Leaving their mark – a look at GCSE, AS and A level examiners
With the first GCSE exams a little over 10 weeks away, exam boards are putting the final touches to their preparations for the summer. An important part of this is the recruitment of sufficient examiners to ensure that GCSEs, AS …
GCSE tier entry in 2020
As the deadline approaches for making GCSE entries, we know that schools and colleges will be thinking carefully about the appropriate tier of entry for their students in those subjects that are tiered – maths and statistics, the science suite …
Save the date: GCSE and A level exam contingency day 2020
Students taking GCSEs, AS or A levels this year should be available from the date of their first exam up to and including 24 June 2020. This is in case one of their exams has to be rearranged because of …
Maintaining standards in November GCSEs
For many years there has been a November GCSE series which provides an opportunity for students to resit English language and maths. It’s mainly for students who didn’t get the results they were aiming for previously, and it is only …
How (not) to compare standards between exam boards
From time to time we see suggestions that one exam board’s GCSE is easier than another, most often because one board has a higher percentage of students achieving high grades. I’d like to explain why simply comparing the grade profiles …
What to expect on GCSE results day
This is the first year that almost all GCSE students have taken reformed exams and over 99 per cent will get results that are all 9 to 1 grades. Our latest blog looks at what to expect from an Ofqual perspective when results are published on Thursday.