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 …
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 …
This summer, with exams cancelled, the quality assurance (QA) process for qualifications in England is different from the usual moderation process. This is a guide to what schools and colleges can expect.
An article for students from Professor Kevin Woods and psychologists at Manchester University. A few weeks ago, schools and colleges opened their doors again to all students. In many ways, it’s “back to normal” but some things are still …
Disruptions from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic have heralded many changes to the way we live our lives, including how qualifications are delivered and awarded to students.