Sally Collier Ofqual chief architect of this exam mess

Sally Collier Ofqual chief architect of this exam mess

Sally Collier, a couple of years in to the top job at Ofqual, the regulator. It is Sally who has come up with the whole exercise of cancelling exams and relying on the schools to complete the pupils grades. It is Sally’s job to allow or stop the GCSEs and A levels to go ahead .

Gavin Williamson has delegated his decision to cancel exams to Sally Collier . Gavin will no doubt blame Sally when in 6 months time they find themselves up at a parliament select committee.

GCSE and A level Exams can be put on and can be put on pronto !

Schools will open in May. Exams by their very existence are self isolating with distance between tables. Surely putting on exams is the right thing to do. Ofqual, the exams watchdog, has issued a consultation document about its proposals for exams this year. This is totally Mad.

Sally Collier



Ofqual is proposing to delegate the whole business of awarding grades to teachers, based on mocks, previous work and anything else that the teachers and schools can magic up.

Teachers and schools are not famous for having the best of judgements. That's partly why we have exam boards and public exams outside of the school control. The taking of exams maybe at the school but it is a third party that marks the exams.

If schools were good judges of pupils' work we wouldn't have exam boards in the first place.

Schools are asked to consider evidence from previous mock exams and homework. How can pupils who take mock exams and expect to know that these were to be used as a case of their final mark?

The way out of this mess is simple. Assemble examiners and make practical arrangements. Exams can still be sat. If Sally Collier is worth anything it is now. Pulling exams into shape with a month warning would show the civil service at its best. if they do not they have simply shown how inflexible and incompetent they are. Keep up to date on opinion on GCSE and A level exams on the exam blog.