Growing sense of anticipation as students start the final push to exams and assessments As the long-anticipated and eagerly-awaited break for the Easter holidays arrives, the thoughts of students up and down the country will be turning to their summer …
During the first half of this year we carried out research to evaluate the expected difficulty of exam boards’ sample GCSE maths papers developed as part of the current reforms and their approach to the assessment of mathematical problem solving. …
I’m sure there are very few people this morning turning their attention to A level results in 2017. Indeed it may be just me! Nevertheless, this September students will start courses for new linear A levels and this means the …
On Wednesday this week I gave a briefing to journalists about some of the trends that we might expect to see in this year's A level and GCSE results given provisional entry data and known changes to qualifications. A number …
It is some time since I last blogged; a lot has happened since then and I want to update you on some of the work we've been doing. One thing we’ve done is to outline more clearly our approach to …
Introduction A successful qualification reflects the achievements of its holder. It signifies the attainment of a specific set of skills. Those who rely on the qualification (for example, colleges or universities making admissions decisions, or employers deciding who to employ) …
We are aware that a petition is circulating suggesting that the new GCSE drama course contains more written elements than practical elements and calls on others to object; We want GCSE Drama to contain more practical elements than written.i I …
Many of you reading this blog will know of the work we have been doing to review exam boards’ sample GCSE maths papers. Those particularly interested in the detail may wish to see our latest report which describes what has …
As the exam season closes, I thought it would be helpful once again to set out how we are regulating the awarding of GCSEs, IGCSEsi , AS and A levels. Changes to qualifications There are relatively few changes to the …
A few months ago we presented the headline results of a survey commissioned in 2014 looking at the ways in which teachers can seek to improve the grades of their students. The results were provided by a small, self-selecting group …
As Ofqual’s Chief Regulator, I care deeply about assessment, of course, but it is only one part of the system; qualifications should be designed to deliver the curriculum aims first of all, and of course they in turn rely on …