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Ofqual forces exam board to raise C-grade boundary on maths GCSE

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

Maths

Regulator argued that Edexcel grades could be more generous than those of AQA and OCR unless the boundary was changed

The exams regulator Ofqual this year forced Pearson, which runs the Edexcel exam board, to raise its grade boundary for the crucial C grade on a maths GCSE, it has emerged.

A letter from Ofqual chief executive Sally Collier, sent a fortnight ago but published for the first time today, reveals that Ms Collier told Pearson to raise the C grade boundary on its higher-tier maths paper from 32 to 33 marks.

The disclosure comes in the wake of a petition urging the exam board to lower the grade boundarieson this year’s paper, which were significantly higher than last year’s grade boundaries.

The petition had attracted 510 signatures since yesterday – but Pearson said this year’s grade boundaries had to be raised because the exam paper was more “accessible”.

The Ofqual letter reveals that Ms Collier told Pearson that unless it raised the C-grade boundary, grades in the qualification risked being out of line with those from other exam boards – meaning pupils taking the Edexcel paper may have had a better chance of passing than those taking AQA and OCR exams.

However, the letter shows, Pearson warned that raising the grade boundary was likely to “distort” results at individual schools by lowering their results this year. This was based on data from a sample of schools and colleges that had a similar cohort of pupils entering for the GCSE in both 2015 and 2016, known as “common centres”.

Exam board overruled

Ofqual overruled this concern, arguing that data from individual schools and colleges was less significant than the statistical predictions, based on pupils’ attainment at age 11, which are used to set grade boundaries under the “comparable outcomes” approach.

“We have carefully considered your argument that significant weight should be given to statistical evidence arising from ‘large stable common centres’,” Ms Collier’s letter said.

“We do not agree that greater weight should be given to this evidence than to [statistical] predictions… it has been Ofqual’s consistent position that greatest weight should be given to predictions based on key stage 2 attainment.”

The letter said that Ofqual was aware of the potential impact of raising the grade boundary on individual schools, but that this was not a “sufficient reason” not to raise the C grade boundary.

A Pearson spokesperson said: “We are confident in the rigorous processes we have in place to set grade boundaries each year, to ensure that students receive a fair result. Our subject and technical experts review the evidence and recommend where the grade boundaries should sit.

“These recommendations are then reviewed by Ofqual, alongside research and statistics from the other exam boards. We accepted the regulator’s judgement for GCSE maths, made with the additional evidence available to them.”

[Source:- tes]

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Education

University to raise tuition fees for current students

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

graduation

Exeter University has told its current students that their tuition fees are going to be increased to £9,250 from autumn 2017.

The government plans to raise fees above £9,000 for universities in England with “high quality” teaching.

But Exeter has announced that the increase will also be applied to current as well as new students.

Opposition parties have promised a parliamentary challenge to the proposal to lift the cap on tuition fees.

Exeter students have used social media to express their irritation at the increase.

Higher fees

On the last day before the parliamentary summer break, the government published details of plans to allow universities to increase fees to £9,250 from 2017-18, scrapping the maximum upper limit introduced during the controversial trebling of tuition fees in 2012.

The plan would allow universities assessed as having “high teaching standards” to increase fees in line with inflation, calculated as 2.8% for next year.

Universities had begun to advertise these higher fees for students about to apply this autumn, for next year’s courses.

But Exeter is also applying the increase to students already at the university.

The measure is permitted under the government’s proposals, but many other universities have so far not made a decision on whether to charge higher fees for students who entered when the legal maximum was set at £9,000 per year.

The University of Nottingham has promised current students, and those about to start this autumn, that there will be no increase above £9,000 for the duration of their courses.

Exeter’s website says that the increase for new and current students is “subject to approval from the government that we meet the criteria in the Teaching Excellence Framework”.

The Teaching Excellence Framework is the system being created to measure the quality of teaching in universities.

For the first year, no universities have failed to reach the necessary quality threshold.

‘Disgraceful’

There was controversy over whether the university fee increase had been properly debated in Parliament.

Opposition MPs were angry that the higher fees were being announced before the Higher Education Research Bill, currently before Parliament, had been approved.

The government said the cap on fees could be lifted legitimately, via a statutory instrument, and that a vote would still be required if there was a challenge from MPs.

Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats have warned the government that they intend to block the planned increases.

Labour’s education spokesman Gordon Marsden last month accused ministers of a “disgraceful” attempt to “sneak out” the increase.

John Pugh, the Liberal Democrat education spokesman, accused universities of “disgraceful arrogance” in advertising higher fees before Parliament had approved them.

Universities have argued that a fixed upper limit of £9,000 has meant that the value of fees is being steadily eroded by inflation.

They have also voiced concern about the legal requirement to provide consumer information about forthcoming higher fees, to students applying this autumn, though a legal maximum of £9,000 remains in place until the proposed increase is approved.

[Source:- BBC]

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