As we emerge from the Coronation celebrations and a welcome extra Bank Holiday, all those involved in exams – students, parents, teachers and exams officers, as well as all of us here at Ofqual – are looking ahead to the …
As the person who oversees the exam boards delivering exams in England, my commitment to you is to put you first, and to make sure that whatever you are studying – be that GCSE maths, A level art or a diploma in travel and tourism - the end result will be a genuine reflection of your work.
Exams and assessments are the fairest way for students to evidence what they know and can do. Whilst it wasn’t possible for all exams and assessments to go ahead during 2020-21, due to the pandemic, it is the government’s intention …
Students across England will receive AS, A level and GCSE results next week, as well as results for many vocational and technical qualifications. Students will get AS and A level results on Tuesday and GCSE results on Thursday. Here’s a …
Exams and other assessments have not gone ahead as normal for a second year, due to a combination of public health concerns and worries about fairness. Learners have had more factors to contend with in 2021, such as interrupted and …
Awarding organisations, colleges, training providers, schools and employers have been working hard to offer functional skills assessments that are safe and convenient for learners throughout the pandemic. This is incredibly important for learners hoping to complete an apprenticeship or progress …
When we talk about worry around exams, we often focus on the exams themselves, or the process of revision and can forget that waiting to receive your results and results day itself can be just as worrying. This may be …
Foreword by Paul Newton, Ofqual Research Chair. Ofqual has a statutory duty to promote public confidence in regulated qualifications, which means that we need to listen carefully to what people think and feel about them. Never has this obligation been …
As we all know, awarding for some vocational, technical and other general qualifications (VTQs) is going to be different in 2021. The ongoing effects of the pandemic mean that assessment, awarding, and even results days will continue to be far …
Last year we spoke to staff in schools and colleges after they had submitted their Centre Assessment Grades (CAGs) and rank orders for summer 2020 GCSE, AS and A levels, as well as for many vocational qualifications. We interviewed over …
We take the risk of bias seriously, so we recently carried out a review of existing third party research on bias in teacher assessment. This has given us a greater understanding and helped to inform and improve the quality of …