The Exam House — October 23, 2020

Ofqual Exam regulator board minutes around 2020 exams

The Triple lock standardisation process of 2020 exams has been revealed in the minutes of Ofsted.

It shows, as it was predicted the mess that Ofqual was in while the pressure to both complete the flawed standardisation process. Had they just gone ahead and sat the social distance exams like they did in many of the other European countries. We would not be in this mess.

The Ofqual minutes in brief it shows Gavin Williamson considered issuing pupils their centre assessed grades before A-level results day, and just two days before saying he had confidence in the system.

Sally Collier rebelled against Williamson’s last-minute triple lock appeals policy, and his replacing her was discussed in advance of her resignation.

The exams regulator also admitted its calculated grades were not reliable for some “outlier” pupils, but said they had no way to solve that – apart from allowing those pupils to appeal.

Williamson had met regularly with Ofqual before results were published. It is clear Williamson and Sally Collier were hand in glove working in unison.

1. Williamson considered issuing centre assessed grade days BEFORE A-level results

2. ‘Triple lock’ proposal was announced before Ofqual signed off 3. Mock exams plan ‘diluted and compromised standardisation process’

‘risk of collapse’ in Ofqual’s credibility in not implementing the announced policy

The board notes go on:

A “key mitigation” of allowing appeals on the basis of non-exam assessment results as well as mock exams, “because this would open the appeal route to students who had been unable to take a mock”.

T “was likely to result in less valid outcomes overall, with unfairness at individual and centre level”, while balanced “against the obvious public confidence considerations, given the announcement and the falling away of confidence in recent days”.

The board then resolved to implement the direction to allow an appeal “on the basis of a student having a valid mock or non-exam assessment result which was higher than their calculated grade”.

It also resolved that on a successful appeal, the grade awarded should not exceed the CAG.

5. Ofqual chief rebelled over mocks plan

Sally Collier was vocal in her support to ditch the proposed mock appeal route and instead use centre based grades from quite early on, the ofqual minutes show.

During an emergency board meeting on Saturday August 15, Collier disagreed with the board’s decision to withdraw its guidance on using a centre based grades cap under the mock appeal route.

Collier also for the board to just go ahead with using centre based grades and to tell Williamson this was their call. however the board instead resolved to reissue the mocks appeal guidance and meet again to discuss whether to use CAGs. Collier voted against this.

The key times are below:

Wednesday 13 May, 12 noon: Ofqual raises concerns that schools could game the system or submit unconsciously optimistic grades for GCSEs and A levels. It concludes the best way to address this is to rely on its standardisation process
Tuesday 11 August, 3 pm: Scottish education secretary John Swinney announces a U-turn on results, with all downgraded results withdrawn.
Tuesday 11 August, 8.45 pm: Ofqual holds an emergency board meeting to discuss DfE proposals of a "triple lock" process, where "students would be able [to] accept their calculated grade, appeal to receive their mock results or sit the autumn exams".
During the meeting, then chief regulator Sally Collier calls education secretary Gavin Williamson, who urges for the issue to be "resolved quickly".
Tuesday 11 August, 10.30 pm: DfE issues a press release announcing the "triple lock" process while meeting with Ofqual is still ongoing.
Thursday 13 August, 3,30pm: A-level results day sees students bitterly disappointed by grades far below what they had expected, with 39 per cent of teachers' grades moderated down.
Friday 14 August, 3.30 pm: Ofqual board resolves to allow an appeal on the basis of a student having a valid mock or non-exam assessment result which was higher than their calculated grade. But on a successful appeal, the grade awarded should not exceed the student's CAG.
Saturday 15 August, 8.30 pm: Ofqual chair Roger Taylor and Ms Collier are asked by Mr Williamson to reconsider the watchdog's position that grades awarded on mock appeals should be no higher than CAGs (the "CAG cap").
Sunday 16 August, 1 pm: Ofqual board resolves to scrap the CAG cap.
Sunday 16 August, 1 pm: Board also instructs Mr Taylor to have "further discussion" with Mr Williamson about awarding CAGs, indicating the board's "increasing concerns" and opinion that this was becoming the "inevitable course".
Sunday 16 August, 5 pm: Mr Taylor reports that Mr Williamson's view "at this stage" was that it "would be better not to move [to] Centre Assessed Grades (CAGs)", but instead to allow mock appeals with the previously proposed CAG cap.
Sunday 16 August, 5 pm: Board says delivery of mock appeals process was in "serious doubt at this late stage".
Sunday 16 August, 5 pm: Board makes "preliminary conclusion" that reverting to CAGs is "preferred option".
Sunday 16 August, 5 pm: Mr Taylor indicates he will communicate with the education secretary "immediately" about the board's recognition that it would likely be "preferable to issue CAGs in order to avoid the possibility of re-issuing guidance only to have policy change once again within a short space of time".
Sunday 16 August, 9.30 pm: Mr Taylor updates board on communication with Mr Williamson. Says he has indicated to the education secretary that the board was minded to consider moving to CAGs.
Monday 17 August, 4 pm: Ofqual announces a major U-turn on grading, with teacher-assessed grades to stand in most cases.
Thursday 20 August: GCSE results day arrives, with the U-turn meaning record numbers of top grades.
Sunday 23 August, 6 pm: In Ms Collier's absence, the Ofqual board notes that it would need to "act swiftly" to rebuild the watchdog's reputation in the event of her resignation.

EDWARD WEBSTEROCTOBER 23, 2020