From School Grades to Student Grades: The Case for Reforming Exam Grading
I write this having just heard the news that Ofsted’s single-word grades for school inspections are to be scrapped. No longer will we see those…
Dennis Sherwood
How transparent is the GCSE, AS and A level exam appeals process in England?
When the exam results are announced each August, the media are, understandably, full of pictures of jolly teenagers jumping for joy. As happened this year, with…
Why haven’t Ofqual published metrics of grade reliability?
On 14 December, Ofqual published their annual statistical bulletin ‘Reviews of Marking and Moderation’ for the summer 2023 exams in England. Lots of numbers. And…
The Advanced British Standard – A huge missed opportunity
On 30 August FE News reported on a survey, carried out in the US by Business Name Generator, the key finding of which was that…
How to be creative using NBP, not AI
Creativity ranks highly as a sought-after ‘soft skill’. Yes, creativity can be taught. And no, it isn’t all about AI. Rather, it’s about NBP –…
How GCSE and A-level exams are marked – some consequences
Can perfectly correct marking result in ‘ambiguous’ GCSE, AS and A-level grades? Yes. This is how… And it happens much more often than you might…
Dear Ofqual..
How reliable are GCSE, AS and A level grades? One source claims “reliable to one grade either way”; another denies this. This open letter by…
Yes, ChatGPT really is creative!
Might ChatGPT win next year’s Eurovision Song Contest? In this blog about why generative AI really is creative, Dennis Sherwood says ‘yes’ – but this…
Exam assessments can be reliable. And this is how to do it
In my FE News piece of 28 March, I examined the statement that GCSE, AS and A level grades are “reliable to one grade either…
Are GCSE, AS and A level exam grades “reliable to one grade either way” reliable enough?
School exam grades are important. They determine students’ destinies. But are grades as reliable as we might expect? Perhaps not: in 2020, Ofqual’s Chief Regulator admitted that…