GCSE students given wrong exam grades, say 80% of headteachers

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/sep/23/gcse-students-wrong-grades-marked-a-levels

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Four out of five headteachers are convinced some GCSE students are given the wrong grades, according to a report by the exam regulator.

Of the 230 headteachers who took part in the survey by Ofqual, 46% said they felt marking accuracy had fallen over the last year; there was also concern that grade boundaries were not being properly set.

A clear majority, 79%, said they did not believe all GCSE students were given the right grade. On A-levels, 67% said they thought some candidates were wrongly graded.

The publication of the Ofqual study on Tuesday, which relates to last year’s results, comes at a time of continuing upheaval in GCSEs and A-levels, and coincides with a spate of reports from students and schools about unexpected GCSE and A-level results this summer. One student, Jack Lane, made a video complaint that went viral, after one of his A-level exam papers was regraded from a D to an A following re-marking.

A number of heads, teachers and examination markers have contacted the Guardian’s Teacher Network expressing concern about recent marking. “I have experienced awful exam marking this summer,” writes one head of English, referring to GCSE papers. “We used AQA and sent back more scripts than ever before. The re-marked scores have, on the whole, gone up, sometimes by 12 marks or more.”

Another teacher (and former examiner) said there had been growing disquiet over the past three or four years – on one occasion the school sought re-marks for more than 20 students’ results, out of a cohort of 180. “Amazingly many were returned with higher marks,” she said. “This was the first time we realised that there was something up with the system.

“Many schools cannot afford to pay for re-marks. It is a terrifying thought that many students are denied places at college, apprenticeships and jobs following their GCSE results because of errors with marking.”

There were other concerns among teachers taking on extra work as exam markers, who told the Guardian they were asked repeatedly last summer to mark hundreds of extra scripts beyond their original allocation. One said: “Other markers in my school were asked to mark other subjects that were not a first or even second specialism. How will they understand the finer intricacies of the mark schemes to interpret them properly?”

According to the Ofqual survey, which was conducted by YouGov, “constant change in the exam system”, both at GCSE or A level, is the most common source of concern across all respondent groups (cited by 67% of headteachers, 56% of teachers, 48% of students and 46% of parents).

More than 40% of heads thought Ofqual was ineffective at maintaining standards because of inconsistent marking of exam papers (which was quoted by 82% of heads, 75% of parents and students and 68% of teachers) and inconsistent gradings.

Nevertheless the report found the A-level remains a “trusted qualification” (81% of headteachers agreed); there was however less confidence in the GCSE system, with only 55% of heads reporting the top level of confidence. Parents had the least confidence in the qualification, at 45%.

For a second consecutive year, students are concerned about “too much pressure/stress” placed on them by A-levels and/or GCSEs and a “heavy workload”. These issues were also a recurrent concern raised by parents, and teachers who were similarly worried about the levels of stress affecting staff.

The survey, which explores perceptions of, and confidence in, qualifications taken by young people, particularly A levels and GCSEs, will be food for thought for Ofqual which is responsible for regulating general and vocational qualifications, particularly as new GCSEs and A-levels come on stream next year.

Nansi Ellis, assistant general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) said: “We continue to be worried about the constant change in GCSEs and A-levels, the removal of the January assessment opportunity and the incorrect marking of exam papers; all concerns which have been expressed before.

“Why get teachers to jump through hoops to express their support for the current system when changes are already in place to radically change that system?”

The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) said the strong reputation of GCSEs was being eroded by constant piecemeal change. Its general secretary, Brian Lightman, said: “Parents and students are confused, employers are frustrated and teachers are overwhelmed.

“As a result of these changes, students are receiving unexpected results which teachers are unable to understand or explain. This in turn means that providing accurate guidance becomes much more difficult.”

A spokesman for the AQA exam board said: “We are very focused on getting the right result for students and we have a number of quality control systems in place during the marking process. We also carry out detailed analysis to continuously improve the quality of marking. However, unfortunately we don’t always get it right and if a school is unhappy with a student’s results, they can ask us to take another look.

“The number of overall enquiries about results goes up every year and given the messages around system change and volatility this summer, we expected that trend to continue. Although we are still in the process of receiving enquiries, it does look like that will be the picture overall.”