A NUMBER of head teachers in Oxfordshire have expressed ‘disappointment’ over the ruling that this summer’s English Language GCSE papers will not be remarked.
We would respectfully suggest that disappointment is not the right emotion in this case.
Indignation, anger or outrage would be more appropriate, given the fiasco which led to exams sat in January being more leniently marked than those taken in June.
The truth is that our heads are being diplomatic in their public utterances and many will be privately seething over a blunder which has undone much of their hard work and that of their pupils.
As for exam regulator Ofqal, it had the power to do something but instead came up with a spectacular fudge which means the pupils affected must resit in November.
Chris Harris, head teacher at Larkmead School in Abingdon, is right when he says that the January grade boundaries should be applied to all.
The very least a student deserves when sitting an exam is a level playing field, preferably one where the goalposts remain stationary.