Ofqual has published a number of reports recently, mainly on the summer 2019 exam series for GCSEs, AS and A Levels. Here is our quick reference guide to each of the reports.

GCSE, AS and A Level summer report 2019

This lengthy report and infographic provide an overview of exam boards’ planning, administration and marking over the summer 2019 series, along with a summary of the awarding process and what happened post-results. Ofqual concluded that the exams in 2019 were, “Carefully planned, effectively managed and successfully delivered.” 138 reformed qualifications were awarded, with marking completed and results announced on time. The scale of exam board activity can be seen in some of the report’s statistics:

• 1.3m A, AS and GCSE students
• 5,900 schools and colleges
• 2,199 A, AS and GCSE question papers
• 16.1m A, AS and GCSE scripts
• 69,000 examiners
• 5.19m GCSE certificates issued
• 869,000 AS/A Level certificates issued.

Maintaining standards in summer 2019

Ofqual’s view is that in summer 2019, standards were aligned between exam boards in GCSE, AS and A Level qualifications and Ofqual was content with the way in which grade boundaries were set. Ofqual has published several reports on maintaining standards:

Maintaining standards

This report explains the work Ofqual does to make sure that standards are set and maintained appropriately, and also includes summaries of its work to incorporate examiner judgements into the decisions about setting grade boundaries. The report also refers to standards maintenance in vocational and technical qualifications included on DfE performance tables.

Improving awarding: 2018/2019 pilots

A further detailed report outlines Ofqual’s research into comparative judgement and rank ordering techniques including several pilots aiming to capture expert judgement for the purpose of maintaining standards.

A Level Maths – maintenance of standards investigation

This sets out in detail the outcome of Ofqual’s investigation into the difference in grade boundaries set in 2018 and 2019 for reformed A Level Maths. Ofqual considered with exam boards whether there was a case to re-visit the grade boundaries set in reformed A Level Maths in 2018 and concluded, on balance, that there was not.

National Reference Test

This report provides an analysis of the NRT results from 2017-2019. It covers the work Ofqual does after summer awarding, to examine the relationship between NRT performance and subsequent attainment at GCSE.

Reviews of marking and moderation

These statistics on the number of reviews of marking and moderation (previously known as enquiries about results) for GCSE, AS and A Level showed:

• 5.4% of GCSE grades awarded were challenged and 1.1% of GCSE grades awarded were changed.
• 7.4% of A/AS grades were challenged (up from 5.6% in 2018) and 1.5% of A/AS grades were changed (up from 1.2% in 2018).

Malpractice in GCSE, AS and A Level

The main trends highlighted in the malpractice report included:

• 3,040 penalties were issued to students – up from the previous year but still only accounting for 0.02% of all entries.  Most commonly these were via the use of a mobile phone or other communication device.
• The number of penalties issued to schools or colleges decreased to 110 - down from 140 in 2018, involving just over 1.5% of centres.

Special considerations

Highlighted in this annual report:

• The number of applications (590,855) for special considerations fell by 4% - the first drop in five years.
• 92% of special consideration requests were approved in 2019, meaning there was an approved special consideration request for 3% of all assessments.
• 95% of these were mark adjustments.

GCSE reforms: The impact of reforms on students’ preparedness for A Level Maths and English Literature

This report explores teachers’ views on the degree to which reformed GCSEs in Maths and English Literature prepare students for A Level study in these subjects.

November 2019 entries

Another statistical report showing that GCSE entries increased by 5% overall for the November 2019 series from 104,710 in 2018 to 109,495 in 2019. Entries in English Language saw an 8% increase and maths entries were up by 2%.

And last, but definitely not least…

Delivery of VTQs in performance tables

This report records Ofqual’s approach to monitoring the delivery of assessments for vocational and technical qualifications before comparing trends and themes in issues reported over the last two academic years.