As over 800,000 A-level results are published, Ofqual chairwoman Kathleen Tattersall comments on maintaining public confidence in qualifications.
Public confidence in qualifications, examinations and assessments is essential if learners are to receive the recognition they deserve for their achievements. Confidence is built up over many years and is based upon a wide range of different perceptions, but it is fragile and can be lost very easily.
There is general agreement that students work hard for their qualifications and get the results they deserve. According to polls conducted over a number of years, not surprisingly the strongest support comes from current students who appear to have more confidence in the system than they did before embarking on the courses.
Regular surveys by Ipsos MORI, commissioned first by QCA and now by Ofqual, monitor the student, parent, teacher and public perceptions of A-levels and GCSEs. The fact that current students are more confident in those qualifications than they were when they started their studies and more confident than their parents or the general public has remained constant from the first survey in 2003 to the most recent in 2008.
It seems reasonable to infer from the surveys that increased confidence is, at least in part, based upon the degree of the respondent's involvement in the system. While this is probably inevitable, Ofqual has a duty to promote confidence in the whole system, not just A-levels and GCSEs but all the qualifications and assessments that it regulates.
The most recent MORI poll showed that the majority of teachers, students and parents have confidence in the accuracy of marking and grading of A-levels and GCSEs. However, it is worrying that 17 per cent of A-level teachers and 12 per cent of GCSE teachers cited inaccuracy of marking as their main concern. These percentages are large when compared with the numbers of requests for review that the awarding organisations receive each year and the changes that are made.
Ofqual's reliability programme has opened the debate on these issues.
The reliability programme is taking place over a two year period. A team of researchers is looking at the evidence of the consistency of assessments. They are also consulting members of the public, including students, parents and employers to determine their perception of reliability in examinations and assessments.
This programme will make a major contribution to our understanding of the factors that make for reliable assessments. Learners have the right to know that the results they obtain – whatever the nature of the assessments they take – fairly and accurately reflect their achievements.
