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Removing flaws in how exams are marked, graded and appealed

Examinations & Qualifications GCSEs and A Levels
The reliability of GCSE and A level marking and grading must be a focus for the on-going Curriculum and Assessment Review if we are to remove flaws and unfairness from the current system, says Dennis Sherwood
Accurate grades? Ofqual told the Education Select Committee that 96% of GCSE grades and 98% of A level grades are “accurate plus or minus one grade”, implying that 4% of GCSE grades and 2% of A level grades are two or more grades wrong - Adobe Stock

The Curriculum and Assessment Review (DfE, 2024) is important. Its findings will determine educational policy for years to come.

We have to wait until the autumn to find out what those findings will be, but we have had the interim report (DfE, 2025).

As discussed in SecEd’s insightful summary, the emphasis of the report is on the curriculum, so my purpose here is to focus on some key aspects of assessment that have so far received less attention.

 

Setting the scene

I note that those who are hoping that GCSEs are to be scrapped will be disappointed, for the report does not mince its words: “We are clear that traditional examined assessment should remain the primary means of assessment across GCSEs.”

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