Assessment
The latest news and analysis on exams in the UK, including key dates, timetables, results and statistics for Sats, GCSEs and A levels
Thursday
1st Apr 2021
Are timed exams really the best way to assess students?
Research shows that having students take exams under timed conditions may not be the fairest or most accurate way to assess what they have learned. So, in light of the current exam hiatus, Charlotte Noon and Martin Noon ponder if now might be a good time to change the system
PISA chief: Pandemic has shown vulnerability of exams
Abrupt cancellations of exams in England shows risk of a single exam approach, Pisa chief Andreas Schleicher has said
GCSEs 2021: Teachers criticise ‘shocking’ exam material
Teachers express disappointment that exam board material for A level and GCSE grading are all from existing papers that they already had access to
Wednesday
31st Mar 2021
Primary baseline tests to go ahead in September
Schools minister promises to ensure schools ‘overall workload demands are managed’ as controversial new assessment goes ahead
‘This 19th-century examination mentality must end’
Upcoming assessments are ‘cruel’ imitations of exams – and were entirely avoidable, says this teacher
Explained: What’s it like to sit a GCSE online?
With online exams a growing possibility, Catherine Lough sits down with AQA to see its on-screen GCSE mock first-hand
Revealed: How online GCSE trials have already begun
All three major exam boards are conducting research working towards a move to online exams, 91¶¶Òõ can reveal
Tuesday
30th Mar 2021
Why we’re getting formative assessment wrong
Formative assessment is one of the most useful tools for boosting progress – but it’s misunderstood, says Shirley Clarke
Exams 2021: iGCSE and IA levels cancelled in the UAE
A directive from the nation’s Ministry of Education means schools must switch to teacher-assessed grades