A message from the CIEA Chair

Dear Member

I very much hope this finds you and your family members well. I said in the April newsletter that these were unprecedented times in the UK, and when writing that I certainly did not imagine what was coming. As we enter the second month of the ‘lockdown’, with social distancing and social isolation now an accepted part of our everyday lives, even tentative predictions about next steps look exceptionally difficult.

The public debates on when and how schools and colleges, training organisations and universities will begin to operate in anything like a ‘pre-Covid19’ sense are just beginning. Striking a balance between minimising disruption to the education and training of millions of students while maintaining their personal safety and that of the hundreds of thousands of staff who teach and support them is inevitably going to be one of the hardest judgement calls for our politicians. What is clear is that the world of education and training is already adapting to the situation through the extensive use of technology, some of which will no doubt have a long lasting impact on practise.

Having said that, some issues have been clarified over the last month which provide reassurance to staff and students. Just before Easter, Ofqual issued proposals for awarding qualifications in Summer 2020. For GCSE and GCE, results will be determined by a combination that will include the assessment of work already or about to be completed, students’ prior attainment, teachers’ assessments of performance and predicted grades. The grades and rank ordering determined by centres will be underpinned by a process of statistical standardisation that will be applied across all awarding bodies. A follow-up consultation on the detailed plans was held in late April, in order that arrangements are put in place by the end of May. For those who did not see the proposals and consultation, the links are provided below. The CIEA submitted a response to the consultation.

Proposals for awarding qualifications in Summer 2020>>>

Ofqual GCSE and GCE consultation>>>

A similar Ofqual consultation exercise was launched on Friday 24th April for determining the awards to be issued for vocational qualifications and assessments. Again, the CIEA will submit a response on the proposals. The link to that consultation is provided below

Ofqual vocational and technical qualifications consultation exercise>>>

The arrangements that Ofqual and the awarding bodies will implement place significant responsibilities on schools, colleges, training providers and other organisations conducting assessments to provide information on their students’ performance – be that by predicted grades/outcomes, providing rank orders of students or actual assessments of work undertaken. In that sense, the Summer 2020 results will rely on the professional judgements made by teachers, lecturers and trainers to a greater extent than in recent years. To ensure the information is accurate and the judgements it is based on are sound and stand up to scrutiny, it is essential that institutions have in place robust assessment arrangements.  Supporting staff to carry out effective assessments is a core part of the CIEA’s mission, and we hope members may find it useful to draw some of the resources we have made available.  For example, the brief videos on standardisation and moderation that we produced in collaboration with Frog Education and the NAHT are particularly relevant to help meet the expectations of Ofqual and the awarding bodies. Those who have access to a Chartered Assessor will be in a position to draw on their expertise in quality assuring the process across institutions.

The arrangements for awarding results this Summer will undoubtedly attract a great deal of public and academic attention, as they will provide some interesting points of comparison with previous years and beg many challenging questions. A recent article in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry gives a flavour of what we can expect to hear about in the months ahead.

Perhaps the two most most basic questions to be asked will be (i) whether the outcomes this year suggest that the teacher assessments on which they are based are as accurate and reliable a measure of student performance as the tests and examinations they replaced and (ii) if this year’s cohort of Year 6 pupils, GCSE students and A Level students progress smoothly into secondary education, post 16 courses and university courses respectively without the world falling in, can we be confident that the current assessment systems are actually fit for purpose and offer us all value for money? I think we can - and should - expect these and many other questions to be asked of our education and assessment system in the months ahead.

To all CIEA members and their families my message is: I hope you all stay safe.

Simon Sharp, CIEA Chair