Ofqual is to look into the issue of lost exam papers after an increase in cases this summer compared with the last time GCSE and A-level exams were held.
The qualifications watchdog has produced a new report today reviewing how the first set of exams held since the onset of the Covid pandemic went this summer.
The report also sets out the next steps Ofqual plans to take looking ahead to exams in the summer of 2023.
This includes writing to exam boards setting out the need for them to improve the recruitment and retention of examiners ahead of the exam series.
New data also published today by Ofqual also shows more pupils were penalised for cheating in exams this summer.
According to figures released by Ofqual today, 4,335 penalties were issued to students for malpractice in 2022 across GCSE, AS and A levels, up from 3,040 in 2019, the last time exams were held.
Ofqual plans to look into increase in lost exam papers
Ofqual has said that it plans to look further into the causes of a rise in lost exam scripts seen this year.
Data shows that there were 2,001 cases this June - compared with 1,677 cases in June 2019, the last time exams were held.
A breakdown shows that 1,706 were GCSE scripts, 272 were A levels and another 23 were AS levels.
There was a big increase in the proportion of papers lost by exam boards this summer.
The data shows that 40 per cent of the scripts were lost by exam boards and another 40 per cent were lost in transit.
The Ofqual report notes that a greater proportion of scripts identified as lost went missing within exam boards.
It adds that during the exam series, all boards reported a significant increase in the volume of additional assessment material returned by schools - including word-processed responses - which are put through separate manual processes and where there is a greater risk of human error.
The Ofqual report adds: “We intend to look further into the causes of the rise in lost scripts in summer 2022.”
Exam boards must improve recruitment and retention of examiners
Ofqual has also highlighted the recruitment and retention of examiners in a letter to exam boards about the exam series of 2023.
The watchdog said that the letter set out the follow-up work boards are expected to carry out ahead of summer, which Ofqual will then review in their annual readiness reviews.
These include “increasing resilience in marking and moderation processes through improved recruitment and retention of examiners”.
Ofqual said it was also considering what role it and others could play in encouraging qualified individuals to become examiners.
Increase in cyberattacks on schools
The report said that exam boards had alerted the watchdog to 57 incidents where aspects of the delivery of an exam were or could have been compromised.
This was an increase compared with 2019, when there were 33 such incidents.
This year’s total included 26 incidents related to cyberattacks, compared with just three in 2019.
All of these were cyberattacks on schools or colleges aimed at denying access to their systems or students’ work. Ofqual said the 26 incidents were across 14 schools and colleges. No exam board was targeted by a cyberattack.
French and German results boosted
In 2019, Ofqual announced the intention to align grade standards in GCSE French and German with Spanish.
This summer, it required exam boards to make an upward adjustment to both French and German at grades 9, 7 and 4, in line with this policy.
Ofqual’s report said: “This was taken into account during grading and is reflected in the overall results for these subjects.”
Ofqual closely monitored marking progress this year
Ofqual said that it judged that marking was potentially more challenging in 2022.
As a result, it monitored marking progress more closely than in previous years. The report sets out how exam boards were required to report regularly and collected progress data weekly.
Where progress was slower than expected, Ofqual held discussions with the exam boards about their expectations of progress and the mitigations they intended to put in place.
The report notes that all exam boards “ultimately completed their marking and moderation of GCSE, AS and A levels in time to issue results”.
GCSE grade challenges down
This year, the proportion of GCSE grades awarded that were challenged decreased compared to the last time these exams were taken (down to 3.7 per cent from 5.4 per cent in summer 2019).
Of the 191,955 GCSE grades challenged in summer 2022, 43,530 (23 per cent) were changed, compared to summer 2019 where 279,925 GCSE grades were challenged and 56,680 (20 per cent) changed.
Overall, a small percentage, 0.9 per cent, of all GCSEs awarded in summer 2022 were changed (compared to 1.1 per cent in summer 2019).
In the majority of cases (76.5 per cent) there were no grade changes made following a review. When grades were changed at GCSE, they were most commonly changed by 1 grade (97.8 per cent of grades changed.
Ofqual has said that it is possible that the decline in the number of grades challenged this year reflects the different approach to grading compared to summer 2019. Grading was more generous than pre-pandemic levels but not as generous as the assessed grades awarded in 2020 and 2021, when exams were cancelled as a result of Covid.
Issues with advanced information
Ofqual said the majority of issues with the advanced information - provided this year as a mitigation for the Covid disruption pupils faced - were addressed ahead of the exams.
The report said there were four question paper errors resulting from the advance information this summer, two of which had the potential to significantly impact students.
It said that, in total, there were 35 issues with the advance information provided this series. Of these, 29 were in relation to the content of the advance information notices rather than the assessment materials themselves and were identified before the exams were taken.
There were four errors that were not identified until students took the exam. Two of these were more serious, as the advance information indicated aspects of specification content that would not be assessed, but which did appear on the paper.
In both cases, exam boards gave all students full marks for those questions.
