South Wales Echo

Gcses are branded a ‘shambles’ as children

Already know questions

- CATHY OWEN Reporter cathy.owen@walesonlin­e.co.uk

PARENTS have hit out at what they have described as a “shocking” system that means some children taking GSCSE assessment­s already know the questions from their peers.

Traditiona­l GCSE and A-level exams have been cancelled for a second year this summer, but pupils across Wales are having to sit assessment­s in their classrooms.

A number of schools and colleges have been running tests in classrooms using past years’ WJEC exam papers.

The assessment­s can’t be held in halls because of coronaviru­s restrictio­ns, so pupils are sitting the same assessment­s at different times.

It means pupils taking the assessment­s first can tell fellow pupils the questions that were asked.

Jamie Westerman, who has a son and daughter in year 11 at a high school in Cardiff, described the process as “shocking”.

He said: “They have just started their GCSE assessment­s to determine their final grades.

“On Monday, my daughter had her English assessment and obviously didn’t know beforehand the content of the assessment.

“My son did his English assessment and it was exactly the same as my daughter’s.

“She had obviously told him and her friends the content, giving them a huge advantage.

“How can they come up with such a shocking assessment process?

“How can it be fair that if you do a subject assessment first you do it blind, but if you do the same assessment later in the week you know all the content.

“This is our children’s future and this shambles is letting them down.”

Robert Edwards, who has a 16-year-old son taking assessment­s, said: “We all realise the situation this year is virtually an impossible task to satisfy everyone, but if because of social distancing some pupils are doing their tests before others and sharing that informatio­n, then clearly, no matter how you look at it, some children will have an advantage.”

The process of grading students arrived at by exam board the WJEC and regulator Qualificat­ions Wales means teachers have little choice but to test students with past papers, head teachers have said.

Students at St David’s College in Cardiff have protested that sitting past

This is our children’s future and this shambles is letting them down

papers – suggested for use by the WJEC as part of the process to decide grades – are exams in all but name. They said this is not a level playing field in a year when Covid disruption means pupils will have been at school for varying periods of time.

Earlier this week, one head teacher warned that this year’s exam grading system is “flawed” and could lead to unfair grade inflation or deflation. Neil Foley, head teacher of Prestatyn High, said using past papers as part of assessment­s gives pupils the chance to obtain grades “they were not capable of”.

Laura Doel, director of the National Associatio­n of Headteache­rs Cymru, says that schools don’t have much choice in the process, and that it was “inevitable and unavoidabl­e” that the content of assessment­s would be shared.

Parent Jamie Westerman

She said: “The profession will do all it can to ensure that fair grades are awarded to learners by the people that know them best, their teachers, but schools’ hands are tied by the process that was agreed by Qualificat­ions Wales and the Welsh Government.

“The assessment process for this year was described to schools as merely providing the evidence base for the grading decisions and those assessment­s are based on publicly available material such as past papers, marking schemes.

“But when schools have been asked to publish assessment schedules, when they are conducted in controlled environmen­t then to all intents and purposes these are going to feel like exams.

“The issue of learners sharing the content of assessment­s with other cohorts was inevitable and is unavoidabl­e given the structure agreed and this concern was raised by school leaders across Wales.”

Qualificat­ions Wales has said the

WJEC will not change grades but will ask teachers to look at them again if they differ significan­tly from results in 2019, 2018 and 2017.

The difference would need to be between 3% and 7% depending on previous best results from the school or college, the regulator said.

A spokesman for the WJEC said grades will be assessed on a “range of evidence”, not just a single piece assessment.

He said: “Given the extraordin­ary circumstan­ces, schools and colleges will use their profession­al judgement to determine their learners’ grades this summer.

“As previously confirmed, there are no timetabled external assessment, the approach taken is at the discretion of the individual centre.

“Schools and colleges will have plans in place to ensure their learners’ grades reflect a fair, reasonable and carefully considered judgement of their performanc­e across a range of evidence, on the curriculum content that they have been taught.

“No single piece of evidence e.g. past paper will necessaril­y be more important than another.

“Teachers and lecturers will be using their profession­al judgement in assessing learners based on a range of evidence that best gives an overall picture of their performanc­e.”

A Welsh Government spokesman said: “The assessment process in place for 2021 places trust in schools and colleges to draw together a holistic range of assessment evidence on which to determine a learner’s grade.

“Qualificat­ions Wales recently confirmed there will be flexibilit­y around the use of assessment evidence to support Centre Determined Grades and this has been done to support learner well-being.

“There is no requiremen­t to use a specific set of past papers as a range of evidence, including that completed during remote learning, will be considered eligible and this will be decided by individual schools and colleges.”

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 ??  ?? Parents have hit out at the testing system that means some children taking GCSE assessment­s already know the questions
Parents have hit out at the testing system that means some children taking GCSE assessment­s already know the questions

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