Schools should be judged on their examination performance over the period of “at least five years” rather than on just one year’s results, a major awarding body has said.
Research by Cambridge Assessment has found that “significant volatility” exists within exam results, even when the impact of things such as reliability of marking are removed.
Its study, entitled Volatility in Exam Results, warns that a range of complex factors may cause exam results in schools to go up or down in unpredictable ways.
In fact, the authors, Cambridge Assessment researchers Tom Bramley and Tom Benton, conclude that more than one in five schools experience variations of more than 10 per cent in their results.
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