Schools Minister Nick Gibb has said that GCSE and A-level qualifications will go through fundamental reform, to bring up standards and place a focus on core subject knowledge.
Ofqual have released the findings from its investigation into the marking issues exam board OCR experienced in summer 2014 that put GCSE and A-level marks at risk of not being delivered on time.
Exam regulator Ofqual has said that there has been an increase in the number of pupils choosing to take ‘traditional’ subjects, such at maths, science and English, at GCSE and A level.
Questions have been raised regarding record exam results in Scotland, as the A-C pass rate for students taking the new exams was higher than those taking the old version.
The Department for Education (DfE) has said it may consider reforms to the exams system after a report from the Telegraph found that over 200 students may have had their grades ‘guesstimated’ due to lost papers.
Statistics show that the number of primary school pupils suspended or given fixed term exclusions for assaulting an adult increased by 25 per cent from 9,290 in 2012-1013 to 11,660 in 2013-14.
Speaking at the Teach First Impact Conference, Education Secretary Nicky Morgan announced that she will establish three working groups to ease teacher’s workload by better managing unnecessary bureaucracy and paperwork.
In the wake of the forthcoming exam marker shortage, Mark Dawe, chief executive of the exam board OCR, has said all suitable teachers should learn to mark exam papers as a form of professional development.
