Exams Fiasco

[needawin]

Thank goodness all the students caught up in the exams fiasco will be old enough to vote in the next general election.
Hope they all remember the chaos, stress and life changing results that have been inflicted on them by the useless Conservatives.

[emmie]

wasn't it OfQual making a mess of it....

[emmie]

students have a tendency to vote Labour any way, at least that is what i remember, its only as they get older their minds may be swayed otherwise, as they become more mature.

[diddlydo]

The government should never have made a U-turn (one of many).

[needawin]

Ofqual are the scapegoats. Government are the cause.
Committees advise but Ministers decide as they are always telling us.
If it suits!

[emmie]

a good friend is a Labour voter, but i think even she wasn't convinced by Jeremy Corbyn and some of his dubious friends....

[emmie]

i guess we are living in strange times, with covid running riot, not everything has been plain sailing, in fact its been chaotic because of the pandemic..

[ummmm]

Most of them have brains and know this isn't the fault of any political party!

[emmie]

but the Tories will get the blame nonetheless.

[dannyk13]

diddly//The government should never have made a U-turn (one of many).//
Is it not the right thing to do when it is apparent that something is not working?

[diddlydo]

The point is that this year's GCE and GCSE students now have meaningless inflated results.

[emmie]

the teachers should know what they are doing surely, they are the ones who have seen the students and know their capabilities.

[ummmm]

Do GCE even exist anymore?

[diddlydo]

Danny - to whom was it apparent that "it wasn't working"? As a GCE examiner I know full well that teachers overestimate grades.

[emmie]

i think the Tories were right in their U Turn, if it wasn't working then change it. which they did, albeit with many apologies....

[dannyk13]

Diddly,Danny - to whom was it apparent that "it wasn't working"? //
The government.

[diddlydo]

Ummm - GCE = A-level exams!

[Old_Geezer]

From what I've read the chaos, stress and life changing results has been caused by the students themselves, or some of them, refusing the grades they were given because it wasn't what they expected and causing such a fuss that the weak government made another U turn. Besides, who do you think are less useless and worth voting for ? If you claim to know, then you're wrong.

[fiction-factory]

It's a sign of the times- combination of more immediate data, social media and media frenzy for stories, more awareness that governments will feel pressured into (maybe false)claims that measures discriminate against BAME and poorer students, more willingness to claim/admit to mental health issues from such 'traumas', more use of hyperbole ("teachers ignored", " children's futures ruined") and general opportunism of those with time on their hands to pick holes.

30 years ago I think the algorithm approach, coupled with an appeals procedure to clear up the small number of anomalies (which of course should have been queried and followed up by OFQUAL this year) would have been regarded as a great, clever solution which was fair to this year's students and past/future students by preventing excessive grade inflation.

[douglas9401]

Testing times.

[ichkeria]

It isn’t just students.
If anything parents are angrier.
Williamson was warned about the potential unfairness of this system weeks ago and decided to press ahead.
He’s an ineffectual Secretary of State but the PM seems determined to put personal loyalty above competence, which is a fatal error.