School exams boss quits over scrapped A-Level and GCSEs & ‘warns students face free for all’ as teachers award marks
AN EXAMS boss has quit over the Government's plans to replace A-Level and GCSE exams with 'free for all' teacher-awarded grades.
Sir Jon Coles, a former director general at the Department for Education, resigned from his post as Ofqual adviser after the Government failed to make mini exams mandatory for pupils.
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It comes as the Government defends its plans to allow schools to decide if kids sit tests - with Schools Minister Nick Gibb admitting: "It's the best we can do other than exams."
Ministers feared forcing A-Level and GCSE students to sit mini exams that were marked by schools would be "exams by the back door."
Sir Jon, who joined exam watchdog Ofqual in November last year, last night warned that officials are risking a situation "much worse" than last year's hated algorithm.
He also reportedly said students faced a "free for all" - and grades will be inflated to a point that results are 'meaningless'.
His resignation will come as a blow to the Government on the day the Education Secretary sets out further details on how schools will determine grades.
It comes as:
- Ministers confirm face masks and Covid tests aren't mandatory for students
- Teachers prepare to assign grades for this year's summer exams
- Gavin Williamson insisted there's an 'extremely low risk' for kids returning to school on March 8
- It emerged millions of pupils may not return on March 8 as promised
Gavin Williamson will speak in the House of Commons later today after exams were cancelled for the second year in a row.
He's set to confirm that normal summer exams are out - and teachers will instead decide their students' results with the help of voluntary 'mini' subject tests.
There are concerns the plans will lead to a record haul of results as officials abandon trying to control soaring grades.
Marks will not be pegged to previous years, meaning grade inflation could run wild if teachers are generous with their assessed grades.
But ministers are desperate to avoid a repeat of last year’s botched computer algorithm disaster, which saw a massive public outcry over some unfairly low marks.
All results had to be scrapped and higher teacher grades were awarded instead.
The decision on this year's results was made as a Government report revealed kids in every year have fallen hugely behind in maths and English during lockdown.
In a round of TV interviews today, Mr Gibb confirmed Sir Jon's resignation - and said education officials are doing their best to ensure grades are fair.
He said the row was to do with introduction of exams "by the back door".
"He thought that the exams material that we're making available to teachers, the question banks that they can use as part of the range of evidence they will need to supply to exam boards about how they've devised the grades, he wanted that to be compulsory, mandatory," Mr Gibb told Sky.
"We asked that question in the consultation, and the consultation was very clear they should be an option and not mandatory.
"We didn't want those materials to be regarded as a mini-exam because we have cancelled exams this year because they were felt to be unfair, given the disruption."
Mr Gibb, speaking to LBC, added: "We didn't want there to be an exam by the backdoor if it was mandatory - that was the fear."
Sir Jon has not yet commented publicly on his resignation. However, earlier this month he set out a series of five tests for fair qualifications and grading in 2021.
In a thread posted on Twitter, he said marks must "be generous", with grades this year "broadly equivalent" to those awarded in 2020 - although "further substantial grade inflation" must be avoided.
He also argued those who have suffered the most as a result of school closures should have leniency with marks, while teachers must be protected from "criticism and backlash, both in relation to criticisms of under-grading individual students and in relation to grade inflation".
New survey lays bare the devastating impact of school closures
A Department for Education study has revealed the toll Covid closures have had on British schoolkids
Pupils in England were around two months behind in reading and three months in maths by the end of October last year, it found.
And researchers said the problem will have got far worse since then as schools have been shut again since January.
Natalie Perera, boss of the Education Policy Institute, which carried out the study, warned its findings could be just the tip of the iceberg.
She said: “These new findings show considerable losses in pupil progress were already evident by the first half of the autumn term.
“Pupils all saw their academic progress penalised by the pandemic. Since then, pupils have faced further disruption as a result of this period of school closures.
“While teachers, parents and pupils have been going to great lengths to adapt to remote learning, the real concern now is that these learning losses could increase.”
The report says that pupils in Year 6 and Year 9 are worst hit, and are already two months behind.
Elsewhere today, Mr Gibb told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We trust the judgment of teachers.
"They're the people who know their pupils best.
"On top of that, there are all these checks both at the school level and at the exam boards level to make sure that we do get consistency, and there is a range of evidence that backs up the judgment of that teacher when they send the grades to the exam board.
"There are all kinds of detailed guidance from the exam board to make sure that teachers across the country are applying their judgment in a consistent and fair way."
Pupils will receive their A-level results on August 10, with GCSE grades coming out two days later on August 12.
Last year, teens received a record-breaking set of GCSE results from their teachers. The proportion of grades awarded at 7, 8 and 9 — equivalent to the old A and A* grades — rose from 21.9 per cent to 27.6 per cent.
And officials have confirmed that this year, there will be a "very robust" appeal process. Students who are unhappy can re-sit in the autumn.
Mr Williamson said: "Young people have shown incredible resilience over the last year, continuing with their learning amid unprecedented challenges while the country battles with this pandemic.
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"Those efforts deserve to be fairly rewarded.
“We are putting trust in teachers. There is going to be no algorithms whatsoever, but there will be a very clear and robust appeals mechanism.”