Category: Testing Children

Lord Baker was right the first time around

Lord Baker was right the first time around

I was recently interviewed by the Daily telegraph about a story in which Lord Kenneth Baker – a former Education Secretary – said GCSEs ought to be abolished. As the person who introduced the exams this is quite a U-turn, something his Prime Minister at the time, Margaret Thatcher, was not keen on doing. Lord…

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Exams or Teacher Grading

Exams or Teacher Grading

In response to a Telegraph article on the announcement by the Department for Education on this year’s exams (you can read the PDF of the article here), is that you can only have one or the other. It seems there is going to be a ‘free for all’. Slimmed-down but compulsory exams offer a way…

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How to put the ass into assessments

How to put the ass into assessments

One effect of the pandemic not yet wholly appreciated is the way it has exposed the weakness in assessing children’s progress at primary school level. A dramatic shake-up of the SATs system around four years ago has left educators and parents unaware of exactly how children in this age range are faring. Before the changes,…

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Wales has got it wrong

Wales has got it wrong

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…

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