Ofqual intends to fine exam board Pearson £250,000 for failing to identify conflicts of interest among 195 of its examiners for GCSEs, A levels and Btecs, as well as failing to ensure the confidentiality of exams.
The examiners worked as tutors for Pearson at schools where students sat their exams.
Pearson also failed to follow its own policies to ensure confidentiality of its exam papers, Ofqual said.
There were six instances when people involved in writing or advising on an exam paper’s content were also practising teachers.
From July 2023, Pearson reported breaches of its own policies to Ofqual.
Potential conflicts of interest over exams
The 195 tutors worked for the National Tutoring Programme, and marked 7,244 exam responses by students at schools where there was a potential conflict of interest.
Pearson told Ofqual that any questions that were potentially compromised were then re-marked by other examiners.
Ofqual said that Pearson had “cooperated fully” with its enforcement process and admitted it had breached “conditions of recognition” that all awarding organisations are legally required to follow.
Pearson signed a settlement in October agreeing to pay £250,000 and Ofqual’s “reasonable legal costs”.
Amanda Swann, Ofqual’s executive director for general qualifications, said: “Fortunately, in these instances, there is no evidence of any direct impact on students.
“Pearson, however, failed to guard against conflicts of interest and breaches of confidentiality, and we intend to fine them accordingly.”
‘Swift corrective action’
A spokesperson for Pearson said: “As soon as we identified the potential conflicts of interest in 2023, we notified Ofqual, took swift corrective action and resolved the issue.
“A detailed review with Ofqual has confirmed there is no evidence of any adverse impact on students or schools and colleges.
“While these events took place following a period of unprecedented disruption due to the pandemic, we acknowledge that established processes were not followed.
“We have updated our systems and continue to invest in enhancing and automating our processes to improve controls and reduce risk.”
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