Send in the Clowns
Send in the Clowns
Send in the Clowns
A friend sent the following unfunny joke:
Q: When is a C grade not a C grade?
A: When it’s at GCSE in English.
Laugh? Erm, no.
If ever we wanted first-hand evidence that we’ve moved back to an era of norm-referencing, then AQA’s letter to English departments proves it today.
I have to say that I wouldn’t give the awarding organisation top marks for its own use of English. Look at that first sentence of paragraph two and see if the “happened as it should” point makes more sense to you than it does to me.
The whole thing looks rather pitiful, rather defensive, rather limp. This, methinks, would be a great time to abandon AQA, the largest provider of GCSE English qualifications, though where would you run to?
It may be worth reminding ourselves and our political leaders - if we can drag their attention from perusing yet another anthology of French lesbian poetry - that schools are, after all, supposed to be the customers in all of this.
Most secondary schools will be paying £100K or more to exam boards, and maybe we would prefer not to be patronised by them, or to feel that they are not merely the cringing fawns of Ofqual, or - in this joyous world of market forces - to expect that they are offering the qualifications our students need and deserve rather than penalising thousands of them for the ineptitude of the moderators and the non-regulation of the regulator.
But all of this you know.
So, here’s the letter: a catalogue of clunky prose and lame excuses. I resent being addressed by an exam board as “Dear colleague” which ought to mean “associate - fellow - mate - fellow worker - friend”. I consider them none of these.
And I’m not sure whether to laugh out loud at the last paragraph about “high quality qualifications” or whether instead to rush to find a homemade sick-bucket.
Unless you need the money, I’d advise all English teachers to have as little to do as possible with our dysfunctional examination system.
Meanwhile: here’s today’s letter.
15 November 2012
Dear colleague
As Head of English, I want to take this opportunity to write to you to help clarify some of the issues arising from Ofqual’s final report into the setting of GCSE English grade boundaries this summer. The full report can be accessed through this link: http://www.ofqual.gov.uk/files/2012-11-02-gcse-english-final-report-and-appendices.pdf
The report restates the original findings that the setting of grade boundaries across all awarding bodies “happened as it should”. It also explores some of the complexities involved. The flexible design of the qualification meant that schools had many more decisions to take and were under intense pressures as a result of the accountability measures. The exam boards had to maintain the comparability of qualification-level standards across a wide range of different routes.
Ofqual’s report introduces some changes that have implications for the way all awarding bodies will need to work for forthcoming series of assessments. These apply to GCSE English and GCSE English Language but not GCSE English Literature.
This means that:
1) Starting with controlled assessment units in November 2012, moderation will be tightened:
•we will reduce the percentage of tolerance that we apply to submitted marks. As a result, good standardising practice will be even more important and our teacher on-line standardising (T-OLS) materials1 are designed to support this. Teachers can also access the principal moderators’ standards and our team of experienced subject advisers will be available to guide you through the new process
•schools entering speaking and listening marks will be asked to submit written records
•in November 2012, moderation of controlled assessment is sampling a higher proportion of
work. From January 2013, we will increase the size of the initial sample we review during moderation.
1 In order to access T-OLS through e-AQA, go to the homepage: aqa.org.uk, click on the e-AQA link and enter username and password. Once in e-AQA, select the Teacher Services tab, then T-OLS block at the bottom of the screen.
AQA Education (AQA) is a registered charity (number 1073334) and a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (number 3644723). Our registered address is AQA, Devas Street, Manchester M15 6EX.
2) No grades, UMS marks, or other information about aggregate performance, will be issued for January 2013 assessments (whether exam or controlled assessment) until June 2013 assessments have also been marked:
•we will not set any grade boundaries for January 2013 assessments until August 2013
•there will be no grades or UMS marks awarded for the January 2013 series until August 2013
•there will be no certification for the January 2013 series until August 2013
•students can still sit the exam and enter controlled assessments in January 2013, but will only
receive marks
•enquiries about results services will be available in March once marks are published and again
in August 2013, but a service can only be requested once per script/controlled assessment
sample
•we recognise that schools and colleges may wish to review current entry plans on this basis.
Provided the normal terminal assessment rules are applied, students who enter for the award in January 2013 can re-sit any unit in June 2013, and where a student resits a January 2013 unit, once grading is complete in summer 2013, the better of the last two UMS marks will be used
•if the January 2013 series was planned to be used to re-sit an earlier unit, this can still be done, however unit and subject level certification for January 2013 will not be available until August 2013
•schools deciding to withdraw entries from the January 2013 series will not be charged for the entries, providing that this is done before December 15th 2012. We will issue credit notes for withdrawals received by this date.
3) Awards for both January and June assessments will be made at the same time and results issued in August 2013:
•in awarding both at the same time, we will publish the unit and subject level grades and UMS marks in August 2013 for all January and June 2013 assessments
•enquiries about results services for January 2013 assessments will be open again after results publication but will only be available if a request was not previously made in March 2013. Enquiries about results for the summer 2013 series will be available in August 2013 as normal.
4) From September 2013, GCSEs will no longer be modular in England. To protect standards, other design changes may be needed:
AQA is keen to work with Ofqual and other awarding bodies to restore confidence and stability for the remainder of the specification
we will consult with schools and colleges to gather views on how best to do this as soon as any decisions are made, we will write again to clarify design changes to the specifications and support your planning for the next steps.
I know that this period of change is unsettling and frustrating for schools and colleges, especially where results in the summer were much lower than anticipated. Since the publication of results, the English and curriculum field teams have met with head teachers, subject leaders and teachers to listen to how the outcomes in the summer have affected students, and have sought to help schools plan for any future change.
As a result of the feedback we have received, we have developed the following new resources which can be accessed via our website:
•examples of plans to support linear assessment http://web.aqa.org.uk/qual/newgcses/english/english-materials.php?id=01&tabid=10
•standardising scripts for the June series with senior examiner’s commentary to show how marks were applied to unit 1 of the foundation tier
•further explanations of how awarding processes work
•exemplification of changes to GCSE English Literature and the allocation of marks for
spelling, punctuation and grammar.
We will work hard with Ofqual, government, schools and the subject community to ensure that the replacement qualifications for the GCSEs are the best that they can be.
I want to reassure you that AQA is committed to providing high quality qualifications, and that we want to do everything we can to support you through this challenging period of change. We know that it is now more important than ever that we maintain high standards of customer service and that we are available to help with your concerns or queries.
Yours sincerely
Gary Pollard Head of English
Geoff Barton
15 November 2012
22:50
Thursday, 15 November 2012