Our education system reversed the idea of collecting information/ evidence from students over the period of their GCSE and level 3 courses. As an educator I am fully aware of the pitfalls of this system. The cut and paste book of evidence and formulaic ways schools were able to prepare students to get the best possible grades. Grades that didn‚’t always reflect the student‚’s ability.
Pre-COVID-19 our system involved students who gain grades based on 2‚’3-hour exams at the end of a 2-year course. Students generally sit far more subjects and consequently far more exams (20+) than their parents or grandparents did when this system was last in place. COVID-19 has turned this system on its head and reverted entirely to teacher-based grades.
It will be difficult to prove accuracy and consistency, particularly as further lockdowns and quarantines have led to large numbers of students being at home for significant portions of the course.
Is it worth considering/reviewing teacher grades vs exam-based grades, each system plays to the strengths of certain types of student/ aspects of certain courses but perhaps comparing data and reviewing both would give a more tangible view of how and what a student‚’s ability is? Is there a compromise to be reached / used for students who will enter a world where they will never have to sit so many exams in different subjects ever again, of if they are not skilled at exams will not gain grades that reflect their ability and the contribution they could make to society?
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