On Thursday (22 August), students will receive results for GCSEs and level 1/level 2 vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs). Students should be proud of their achievements as they receive their results. The qualifications they have gained provide trustworthy evidence of …
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 …
In September 2015 students will begin studying the new GCSE in English language, which will be graded 9 to 1. The qualification will be first awarded in 2017. The English language GCSE is based on new subject content which includes …
The latest YouGov report is the 13th annual exploration of attitudes to general and vocational qualifications, as well as to Ofqual. The research, which we commissioned and was conducted by YouGov, investigated perceptions and levels of confidence in qualifications and …
I have written to all secondary schools during half-term to provide them with information about the new national reference tests that we are introducing - and to ask them for their support for this important development.
Those of you that have been following this blog will know that we have been undertaking a programme of research in order to evaluate the expected difficulty of the exam boards’ sample GCSE maths papers and their approach to the assessment …
In January we began a research programme looking at differences across the four reformed and accredited GCSE maths specifications – those of AQA, OCR, Pearson and WJEC. The work has comprised four strands: Strand 1 Based on the views of …
When is helping a student not in his best interests, or fair to other students? It is a tricky question, and one of many we considered with a small group of teachers, school leaders and academics in a symposium on …