Williamson defends use of calculated examination grades

The U-turn on this summer season’s exams in England turned unavoidable, as numbers difficult grades would have overwhelmed the appeals system, mentioned Schooling Secretary Gavin Williamson.

Dealing with questions from MPs over the exams fiasco, he defended the precept of utilizing calculated grades, however mentioned too many “inconsistencies” emerged.

Mr Williamson additionally denied making the exams watchdog take down its steerage.

He additionally advised MPs faculties would have the ability to order extra Covid-19 testing kits.

With head academics warning that faculties might need to ship dwelling pupils due to delays with testing, Mr Williamson mentioned he had met Baroness Harding, head of the take a look at and hint system, to stress that testing for faculties needed to be a “precedence”.

Colleges can now order alternative testing kits, he mentioned, after they had been despatched an preliminary batch of 10 per faculty.

However he wouldn’t decide to a “48-hour assure” for turning round take a look at outcomes, as advised by Schooling Choose Committee chairman Robert Halfon.

‘Too many inconsistencies’

The schooling secretary was giving proof to MPs in regards to the chaos surrounding this summer season’s A-level, GCSE and vocational exams.

Mr Williamson mentioned that when the choice to cancel exams was taken in March, there was a necessity for “certainty” – and it was not possible to plan for typical exams, which could later must be scrapped.

He stood by the choice to make use of calculated grades as a substitute – saying they had been fairer for pupils from deprived backgrounds – however mentioned the issues and errors emerged when outcomes had been issued.

“The fact was there have been too many inconsistencies by way of the grades. That was one of many actual challenges – and that result in a scarcity of public confidence within the awarded grades,” he advised MPs.

There had been confusion over a call to permit appeals to be remodeled mock take a look at outcomes – with the examination regulator Ofqual publishing guidelines for a way this might work after which taking them down the identical day.

Mr Williamson denied that he had ordered this – saying that he had needed adjustments, however it had not been his resolution to take away the steerage.

Accountability

The quantity of appeals that may have been anticipated from permitting the usage of mock take a look at outcomes was such that the appeals system wouldn’t have been capable of cope, he advised MPs.

“What turned more and more clear,” he mentioned, “was that an appeals system now, irrespective of how strong, irrespective of how extensive, how open was not going to be adequate to deal with the variety of children making use of”.

And in response, in a significant U-turn, outcomes had been then switched to the “centre evaluation grades” submitted by faculties, with mock assessments being ditched for appeals.

Head academics’ union chief Geoff Barton was unimpressed.

“Pupils, academics, mother and father and taxpayers deserve higher solutions than this,” he mentioned. The responses to the committee didn’t actually clarify “what went mistaken with the grading course of this summer season”, mentioned Mr Barton.

David Blunkett, a former Labour schooling secretary, mentioned later that in the long run the “buck stops with the schooling secretary”.

Questioned on blurred traces of accountability and accountability between ministers and Ofqual, the schooling secretary emphasised that Ofqual was not topic to his oversight.

“Ofqual is most clearly very unbiased,” he mentioned.

He additionally refused to be drawn into questions over whether or not Ofqual “obtained it mistaken” of their strategy to awarding exams, as a substitute providing reward for Sally Collier, the chief regulator, who resigned following the exams disaster.

By way of recognising early warnings that there may very well be issues with the algorithm system – Mr Williamson mentioned the Division for Schooling didn’t get any detailed view of outcomes till the week they had been printed.

However he additionally advised he wouldn’t have the ability to share with MPs a briefing in regards to the exams given to officers at 10 Downing Avenue every week earlier than outcomes had been printed.

Requested whether or not Ofqual’s popularity had been badly broken, he mentioned: “What we each did not recognise was the truth that we weren’t in peace time.

“However we had been in a really totally different state of affairs by way of the worldwide pandemic.”

And the schooling secretary refused to be drawn into questions on whether or not his most senior civil servant had resigned resulting from offering unsatisfactory recommendation.

Requested about subsequent yr’s exams, Mr Williamson mentioned it was “very important and so essential that we get the exams sequence up and operating for 2021”.

“I’ve repeatedly advised Parliament that we’re going forward with exams subsequent yr,” he mentioned.

His division was planning for a probably totally different strategy that might see “additional capability inside faculties and a wider use of public buildings for examination sectors”, he added.