GCSE English and the great Welsh regrades
If you took it in Wales you’ll now get a regrade. If you sat it over the border in England, you won’t. It’s hard to see how this situation could ever be regarded as fair – or how it can remain unchanged.
Education Secretary Michael Gove reiterates his determination to introduce a culture of tougher exams – but his desire to put rote learning at its core is going down surprisingly well.
A-level students will only be able to sit exams in the summer, meaning the number of re-sits will be capped, under the first stage of Ofqual’s A-level reforms.
Teachers under intense pressure to achieve good grades are guilty of “significantly” over-marking pupils’ GCSE coursework in some schools, says the exams regulator Ofqual.
New figures show that 45,000 students will resit their GCSE English exams, but headteachers called the resits a “gross injustice” arguing that the exams should instead be regraded.
Bright pupils across England fail to live up to their early promise because thousands are being entered too early for GCSE exams, reducing their chances of getting top grades, warns Ofsted.
As the government announces plans to replace GCSEs with a tougher, O-level style qualification in England, Channel 4 News looks at the advantages and disadvantages.
Bordering on the ridiculous? The Education Secretary Michael Gove wades into the GCSE grading row, accusing his Welsh counterpart of political meddling.
If you took it in Wales you’ll now get a regrade. If you sat it over the border in England, you won’t. It’s hard to see how this situation could ever be regarded as fair – or how it can remain unchanged.
Ofqual admits raising concerns with exam boards, after leaked letters show that the exam regulator questioned an exam board’s GCSE English results and ultimately overruled the grades it awarded.
With the row rumbling on over GCSE English results, Channel 4 News sets out to answer a few questions for people who fear they have been unfairly treated.
Ofqual’s review into the GCSE marking mess found that students who took exams in January “got lucky”. But you’re not supposed to “get lucky” in the way potentially life-changing exams are graded.
Ahead of an initial report on the GCSE marking controversy, Channel 4 News puts your questions to the exam watchdog, Ofqual.
Social Affairs Editor Jackie Long blogs on this year’s GCSE marking debacle, and who will get the blame.
Anger over exam marks as grade boundaries are changed, causing accusations of disadvantaging this year’s students.
Concerned teachers suggest that GCSE English exams were marked too harshly this year after schools reported an unprecedented number of fails among their pupils.