News & announcements
Ofqual sets out its Corporate Plan for the next three years
Last Updated on Thursday, 17 May 2012 16:07 Thursday, 17 May 2012 15:44
Ofqual has today (Friday 18th May) set out a significant programme of work to ensure qualifications are of the right standard.
Ofqual’s first Corporate Plan outlines priorities and plans for all aspects of its work including GCSEs and A levels, vocational qualifications, national assessments and regulation of the qualifications market.
Chief Regulator Glenys Stacey said: “We have been listening to those in schools, colleges, higher education, business and Government, and our plan reflects what they have been telling us, and the findings from our own growing research and evidence base.
“Our focus is on making sure qualifications, both academic and vocational, are of the right standard, and this drives all we do. We also know that exams and assessments are part of the wider education system and must support the best teaching and learning. We will play our part in making sure that is the case.
“We are working in a time of significant change for qualifications. We are clear in our role. Where the Government decides to make changes we will continue to advise on the best way to implement these without undue risk to standards or delivery.
“Our plan to improve qualifications will result in increased confidence in the exams system, and young people better prepared for their futures.”
The full Corporate Plan for 2012-15 can be downloaded here:
- Ends
For more information please contact the Ofqual press office on 0300 303 3342 or 07798 924552 (out of hours).
Some of the work outlined in the Corporate Plan includes:
For GCSEs:
- Building on the work already started to strengthen GCSEs
- Reviewing controlled assessment
- Reviewing the branding of GCSEs
- Reviewing the grading scale
- Containing grade inflation while ensuring fair outcomes
For A levels:
- Consulting on Government plans to engage Higher Education more in the design process
- Including in the consultation questions on the modular approach, particularly the role of January assessments
- Containing grade inflation while ensuring fair outcomes
For vocational qualifications:
- Reviewing the working of the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF)
- Reviewing Functional Skills qualifications
- Reviewing English for Speakers of Other Languages qualifications
For national curriculum and early years assessments:
- Developing our reviewing and reporting arrangements
- Comparing Key Stage Two national assessment arrangements with those in other countries
For the regulation of the qualifications market:
- Continuing the programme of work on healthy markets, including a review of text books
- Developing new ways of working with employers to better understand what they need from qualifications
- Reviewing pricing structures
Ofqual Publishes International Comparability Findings
Last Updated on Thursday, 10 May 2012 16:39 Thursday, 10 May 2012 16:05
Ofqual today (Friday 11th May) publishes the key findings from its international comparability study of A levels and equivalent qualifications.
The project reviewed examinations covering a representative range of subjects including judging their comparative demand.
A series of themes emerged through the research. These have been framed as issues that could form the basis for discussion around what should be prioritised in England as part of any future development of our senior secondary qualifications.
Key differences noted between A levels and systems in other countries include:
- the use of baccalaureate or diploma-style assessment systems elsewhere, which can provide additional breadth but at the expense of depth
- use of other modes of assessment, including oral exams and multiple choice
- the use of individual projects and extended essays.
Dennis Opposs, Director of Standards at Ofqual, comments: "We found that A levels stand up well against international counterparts at subject level, though the smaller number of subjects typically studied in England clearly make it possible for A levels to be 'bigger' than many of these counterparts.
"We have highlighted a number of issues for further consideration, especially around curriculum structure, modes of assessment and subject content. Subject content issues are particularly relevant to A level mathematics, which stands apart from other countries' mathematics qualifications in a number of respects.
"We very much look forward to exploring these themes further, especially in the context of the imminent Ofqual consultation on A level reform."
Professor Peter Tymms, Head of the School of Education at Durham University, and Co-Chair of Ofqual's Standards Advisory Group, comments; "This is an important study which throws up interesting and unexpected insights that allow for future investigation in England."
-ends-
Notes to editors
Subjects reviewed were: mathematics, chemistry, English and history that formed a part of the main qualification undertaken by learners to gain entry to higher education in: New South Wales, Australia; Alberta, Canada; Denmark; Finland; France; Hong Kong; Netherlands; New Zealand; Norway; People’s Republic of China; Republic of Ireland; Republic of Korea; New York State, USA. The project also included the ACT (formerly American College Testing) in the USA, International Baccalaureate Diploma, University of Cambridge International Examinations A levels and the University of Cambridge International Examinations Pre-U Diploma which are offered in a number of education systems.
The International Comparisons in Senior Secondary Assessment project complements an extensive full report and accompanying table supplement, which will be published later this month.
The Education Act 2011 revised Ofqual's standards objective to include international comparisons. This commenced in February 2012.
Ofqual publishes the Annual Qualifications Market Report 2012
Last Updated on Wednesday, 09 May 2012 09:29 Wednesday, 09 May 2012 09:23
Ofqual has today (9 May 2012) published the fifth Annual Qualifications Market Report. It presents an overview of the scale, activity and players within the qualifications market regulated by Ofqual and its fellow regulators in Wales (the Welsh Government) and in Northern Ireland (the Council for the Curriculum Examinations and Assessment).
Today's Annual Qualifications Market Report brings together a range of publicly available financial information into a single document, covering three main areas:
- the demand for qualifications
- the supply of qualifications
- the qualifications market and fees
You can download the report here:
Ofqual’s new regulatory powers come into effect
Last Updated on Friday, 04 May 2012 09:50 Friday, 04 May 2012 00:00
Ofqual’s new powers, including the power to fine exam boards, come into effect today (Friday, May 4).
The announcement comes after a detailed consultation by Ofqual as a result of the Education Act 2011. The Act gave the regulator the power to fine an awarding organisation if it breaks the rules set by the regulator.
A new policy, which sets out the full range of Ofqual’s sanctions and enforcement powers and how they will be used, can be found here:
Taking Regulatory Action verison 2 - May 2012
Fiona Pethick, Ofqual’s Director of Regulation, said: “We want awarding organisations to provide high quality qualifications and good levels of service. Our additional powers, including the power to fine, mean that when things go wrong we have more ways in which we can sanction an awarding organisation. Awarding organisations need to know that we will act firmly and robustly.
“With exams starting shortly, this is a timely announcement for us as we now have our new powers in place should there be any problems during this important period.”
As well as the power to fine, the changes also allow Ofqual to recover the costs of enforcement action and make the process of using its other enforcement powers simpler.
-ends-
Notes to editors:
Ofqual has the power to:
- Give a direction to an awarding organisation
- impose a fine
- withdraw an awarding organisation’s recognition, in full or in respect of specified qualifications.
Ofqual can also influence the way an awarding organisation behaves by using its powers to:
- impose extra conditions of recognition
- make some or all of an awarding organisation’s qualifications subject to an accreditation requirement.
Depending on circumstances, Ofqual can also:
- accept an undertaking from an awarding organisation to take a specific course of action. Once such an undertaking is in place breaking it has the same consequences as breaking a condition of recognition
- agree with an awarding organisation the action it will take and monitor its progress in doing so.
Standards Reviews – A Summary
Last Updated on Tuesday, 01 May 2012 12:39 Tuesday, 01 May 2012 09:26
We have completed work on seven standards reviews. We compared the standards of qualifications across years in the following subjects. In some cases the two qualifications were based on the same specification; in other cases there was a specification change in the meantime.
GCSE mathematics 2004 and 2008
A level chemistry 2003 and 2008
A level critical thinking 2010
A level geography 2001 and 2010
What we found
Many of these reviews raise concerns about the maintenance of standards, and as qualifications regulator we will consider what wider lessons we need to learn from these findings.
GCSE
In the GCSEs we reviewed (biology, chemistry and mathematics) we found that changes to the structure of the assessments, rather than changes to the content, reduced the demand of some qualifications. These qualifications have since been replaced with revised specifications. In the case of the sciences, where the new specifications have been used since September 2011, these new qualifications were designed to be more demanding.
A level
In general we found that changes to the way the content was assessed had an impact on demand, in many cases reducing it.
In two of the reviews (biology and chemistry) the specifications were the same for both years. We found that the demand in 2008 was lower than in 2003, usually because the structure of the assessments had changed. Often there were more short answer, structured questions. As a result, students did not have as many opportunities to show their higher order skills in 2008. These specifications have since been replaced.
In geography there were changes to the specifications between 2001 and 2010. Changes to the content meant that some specifications had less scientific content in 2010. We found that the removal of coursework in 2010 reduced the overall demand of the qualification and may have meant students were less well prepared for higher education.
We also reviewed critical thinking qualifications for a single year (2010). The qualifications are offered by only two awarding organisations. We found some variation in the content of the two specifications but overall we found that the qualifications were comparable.
Our response
GCSEs will be revised following the National Curriculum Review in England and A levels will also be revised in the near future. We will use the findings from these reviews to inform the development of regulations for those new qualifications.
Background
As part of our work to maintain standards, we carry out regular reviews to look at the standards of qualifications in different years. We aim to judge whether standards have been maintained over time and to compare standards between awarding organisations.
We use the findings from these reviews to inform our wider work, particularly when we are developing regulations for future qualifications.
Standards reviews look at different specifications within a qualification, the question papers and any other assessments, as well as student work, and we collate and analyse the views of a number of subject specialists. We focus on the relative demand of the qualifications. We judge demand in terms of the following.
- specification factors, including assessment objectives, content and structure
- assessment factors, including what content is assessed and how, the weighting of each component and how the assessments are marked
- student performance factors, including how students at particular grades responded to the assessments
We collect materials on a regular basis from the five awarding organisations (AQA, CCEA, Edexcel, OCR and WJEC) where they offer the qualifications being reviewed. Not all awarding organisations offer all subjects. Where an awarding organisation offers more than one specification in a subject, we collect materials for the largest entry specification. The materials we look at include the specification, question papers and mark schemes, reports of examiners, student work and statistical evidence. We use subject experts to carry out the reviews. These subject experts are independent but we also include representatives from the awarding organisations and subject associations/learned societies.
More Articles...
Page 1 of 16
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next > End >>