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Exam leak allegations trigger Ofqual review of rules Exam leak allegations trigger Ofqual review of rules
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England’s exams watchdog has announced a review of rules allowing teachers to set question papers in the wake of allegations of exam leaks first revealed in the Guardian. England’s exams watchdog has announced a review of rules allowing teachers to set question papers, in the wake of allegations of exam leaks at public schools first revealed in the Guardian.
Teacher involvement in writing and reviewing exams has “many benefits” and malpractice is rare, but access to live exam materials, such as papers due to be taken by students, needs to be “appropriately controlled” and risks to security kept to a minimum, according to Ofqual. It said it would conduct a review of current rules and the safeguards in place to stop confidential information being disclosed. The development, which follows the revelation of cheating allegations involving Eton and Winchester, could put the future of the Pre-U exam under threat.
The move comes after two high-profile private schools became embroiled in a controversy over leaked exam information. The investigation by Ofqual was given the backing of the schools minister, Nick Gibb, who said it was necessary to maintain public confidence in the integrity of the exam system.
Last week, it emerged that Eton College’s deputy headmaster had left the prestigious boys’ school following claims he leaked questions. Ofqual said it would look closely at the involvement of teachers who set final exam questions while also working in the classroom. Because so few teachers are familiar with the exam, any change to the rules could make the exam’s standards significantly harder to ensure.
Eton parted company with Mo Tanweer, head of economics and deputy headmaster of academics at the public school, after an investigation by the Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) exam board. It reportedly looked into allegations of the sharing of questions with other teachers before an upcoming exam for a Pre-U economics exam, which is equivalent to A-levels. Last week, the Guardian revealed that a deputy headteacher at Eton, Mo Tanweer, had been dismissed after he was found to have leaked questions in the Pre-U certificate in economics to students and staff.
The CIE has also been investigating concerns about irregularities surrounding Pre-U art history at both Eton and Winchester colleges. It later emerged that Winchester College had suspended its head of history of art, Laurence Wolff, after allegations he gave students prior information on questions. Wolff has now retired. Pupils at both schools have had their marks in a Pre-U history of art paper revoked.
Ofqual said it would “conduct a review of the rules under which serving teachers take part in writing and reviewing question papers, and the safeguards in place to prevent disclosure of confidential information”. “Ofqual will conduct a review of the rules under which serving teachers take part in writing and reviewing question papers, and the safeguards in place to prevent disclosure of confidential information,” a spokesperson for the regulator said on Thursday.
It added: “The involvement of serving teachers in the process of exam setting has many benefits and exam malpractice by teachers is rare. However, access to live materials must be appropriately controlled and risks to security minimised. We will investigate whether the safeguards in place are sufficiently robust and whether changes are needed.” “The involvement of serving teachers in the process of exam setting has many benefits and exam malpractice by teachers is rare. However, access to live materials must be appropriately controlled and risks to security minimised. We will investigate whether the safeguards in place are sufficiently robust and whether changes are needed.”
A progress report would be published later in the year, the regulator said. Ofqual said it would give an update on its progress in its review of the 2017 summer exam season, which details complaints of maladministration by schools and pupils.
In a statement regarding Pre-U economics, Eton confirmed that a CIE investigation concluded there had been “a breach of exam security by one of Eton’s teachers in relation to one of the Pre-U economics papers”. Gibb, the minister responsible for school standards, said: “The public must have confidence in the integrity of the exam system and cheating of any kind is unacceptable. Exam regulator Ofqual is now reviewing the rules under which teachers take part in writing and reviewing question papers and have confirmed to me that they are considering whether action is needed.
Eton added: “The teacher concerned has left the school. Whilst pupils had done nothing wrong, they were inadvertent recipients of confidential information and so the board awarded them assessed marks for that paper according to its established method. Eton College deeply regrets that this incident occurred.” “The overwhelming majority of teachers act appropriately when working with exam materials but where they do not schools have a responsibility to report it to the exam board for investigation.”
In the case of Pre-U art history, Eton said that following a CIE investigation, pupils who took the qualification had been found to be “inadvertent recipients” of confidential information in relation to one paper. Critics of the Pre-U certificate say its questions are often set by teachers at one of the small number of private schools that have adopted the exam, giving their pupils an unfair advantage in the subjects and topics to be covered in the exams.
This related to information that Eton pupils had received via a pupil at another school in advance of the exam. No Eton staff member was involved. Pre-U certificates are sat by as few as 4,300 candidates a year, compared with 828,000 A-levels sat in the UK this summer.
Winchester College said it had treated the matter “with the utmost seriousness” and “greatly regrets what has happened”. The Pre-U certificate is run by a department of Cambridge University named Cambridge Assessments, through its arm Cambridge International Examinations. The exam board OCR, which offers conventional A-levels and GCSEs, is also part of Cambridge Assessments.
“No boy was to blame for the exam irregularity, and the board used standard procedures to award final grades,” Winchester said. CIE and Cambridge Assessments did not respond to a request for comment.
“One teacher has retired from the school, and all those boys holding university offers dependent on a grade in art history have now had those offers confirmed by their first or second choice university.” Ofqual is responsible for certifying the exam for use in schools in England and has the power to force exam boards to make changes or else face having recognition withdrawn.
It is understood that teachers can be involved in the process of setting exam papers for the qualifications that they teach. A number of headteachers of independent schools have privately expressed their unease at the damage the controversy has done to the sector. Several have said they are considering dropping Pre-U exams to avoid any suggestion of impropriety.
The Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference (HMC), which represents 285 private schools in Britain, has called for an urgent meeting with the CIE exam board over its concerns.
“We have been concerned for some time, particularly in the smaller-entry qualifications, about the exam boards’ reliance on teachers to both set exams and teach the students who will sit them,” Chris King, the HMC’s chair, said in a statement this week.
The headmasters of both Winchester and Eton have said they deeply regret the leaks, and emphasised that in both cases the teachers involved are no longer employed.