Can exam grades be accurate?
Written By: Author(s): Dennis Sherwood
6 min read
'Assessments should be accurate for 90% of students plus or minus one grade'
At a hearing of the Education Select Committee enquiring into summer 2020's grading fiasco, Ofqual's Executive Director of Strategy, Risk and Research stated that:
'There is a benchmark that is used in assessment evidence that any assessment should be accurate for 90% of students plus or minus one grade. That is a standard benchmark. On average, the subjects were doing much better than that. For A-level we were looking at 98%; for GCSE we were looking at 96%, so we did take some solace from that.' (Education Select Committee, 2020)
These appear to be reassuring words: school exams are exceeding the 'standard benchmark' by a considerable margin. Furthermore, for someone so senior to 'take solace' must imply that the exam system in England is working excellently, and is in the best possible hands.
What does 'accurate' mean?
Central to this statement is the word 'accurate' - but what does this mean in practi
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References
- Education Select Committee (2020) Oral evidence: The Impact of Covid-19 on education and children's services. Available at: https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/790/pdf/ (accessed 6 May 2021).
- JCQ (2019) GCSE Results. Available at: https://www.jcq.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/GCSE-Full-Course-Results-Summer-2019.pdf (accessed 6 May 2021).
- Ofqual (2016) Marking consistency metrics. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/681625/Marking_consistency_metrics_-_November_2016.pdf (accessed 6 May 2021).
- Ofqual (2018) Marking consistency metrics - An update. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/759207/Marking_consistency_metrics_-_an_update_-_FINAL64492.pdf (accessed 6 May 2021).
- Sherwood D (2019a) Students will be given more than 1.5 million wrong GCSE, AS and A level grades this summer. Here are some potential solutions. Which do you prefer? HEPI, 16 July, 2019. Available at: https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2019/07/16/students-will-be-given-more-than-1-5-million-wrong-gcse-as-and-a-level-grades-this-summer-here-are-some-potential-solutions-which-do-you-prefer (accessed 6 May 2021).
- Sherwood D (2019b) 1 school exam grade in 4 is wrong. That's the good news… HEPI, 25 February, 2019. Available at: https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2019/07/16/students-will-be-given-more-than-1-5-million-wrong-gcse-as-and-a-level-grades-this-summer-here-are-some-potential-solutions-which-do-you-prefer (accessed 6 May 2021).
- Swan J (2016) GCSE, AS and A level marking reviews and appeals: 10 things you need to know. Ofqual, 6 June, 2016. Available at: https://ofqual.blog.gov.uk/2016/06/03/gcse-as-and-a-level-marking-reviews-and-appeals-10-things-you-need-to-know (accessed 6 May 2021).
This was so useful. Thank you so much. I’ve downloaded the report, and as an English teacher, it is no surprise to find that English is the least accurate subject to Mark. This certainly calls into question the value of exam criteria, and indeed the exam process itself.
It also suggests that students accept the paper more than once.