The government is committed to holding SATs exams for Year 6 students next year – and it is the right thing to do. Testing children is crucial and the damage the lack of exams has caused over the last year will only become apparent in the future. SATs are important because they should give accurate…
An imminent U-turn by Education Secretary Gavin Williamson might well see exams re-instated this year. In a letter to the chief regulator, Williamson said he would like to ‘explore the possibility of providing externally set tasks or papers’. I said at the time of cancellation that it was a decision made too early and that…
The abandonment of GCSE and A-Levels this summer is unnecessary and will further degrade confidence in the system. The decision to cancel exams has been taken too early – it shows a lack of ambition and is a major disservice to the students. With the Covid vaccine being rolled out the exams could have been…
Exams are the best and fairest way to judge a child’s progress – so cancelling them in Scotland next year will do major harm. The Higher and Advanced Higher exams – the equivalent of A-Levels – will not go ahead, and neither will the National 5 exams – the equivalent of GCSEs. Instead, results will…
The decision by the Welsh Assembly to do away with exams next year is foolhardy and will store up major problems. There is a faction in progressive educational circles that want to axe exams, and the pandemic has given them the perfect opportunity to kick-start the process. But exams, while not perfect, are by far…