Readers respond to this year’s exam results and the latest claims of grade inflation
It’s that time of year for a moral panic over examinations, assessments and claims of grade inflation (A-level data shows record grades and biggest gender gap in a decade, 10 August). Underlying this annual soul-searching is a fact that few of us involved in education, let alone politicians, are prepared to acknowledge. We need to recognise, not shamefacedly but honestly, the extent of our limited understanding of school learning. Despite a century or more of research and “measurement”, we still have no firm, reliable or systematic way of assessing young people’s understanding. Our examination technology is crude, partial, inadequate and discriminatory. The mental health of many former students bears witness to that.
The most we can reasonably claim is a largely intuitive and inevitably subjective form of assessment of learning borne out of working closely with our students over a period of time – talking with and observing them on a day-to-day basis. Hence the importance of teacher criteria-referenced assessment and the priority to make it even more effective. This may be uncomfortable to acknowledge, both for some teachers and for most politicians, but it is the reality. This year’s teacher assessed grades should be the start of a much-needed process of development, not an unwelcome interruption of a faulty measurement system which has passed its sell-by date.
Prof Colin Richards
Former HM inspector of schools
