Assessing pupils at the age of 16 in England – approaches for effective examinations

Abstract

In England, pupils aged 16 take the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examinations for a range of subjects. The current assessment models for GCSE include a two-tier structure for some subjects and a non-tier model for the others. The tiered subjects have a higher tier designed for high achieving pupils and a lower tier for low achieving pupils. The higher tier paper is targeted at grades A*–D (with A* the highest grade available), while the lower tier paper at grades C–G (with G the lowest grade). The UK government has proposed a comprehensive reform of GCSEs. It suggested that, with tiered papers, pupils are forced to choose between higher and lower tier papers, which will place a cap on the ambition of those entering for the lower tier. The government therefore suggests avoiding tiering in the reformed GCSEs when possible. This paper discusses the technical and equity issues with the use of tiered examinations in current GCSEs and reviews potential alternative assessment approaches for effective differentiation between pupils for the reformed GCSEs.

Keywords:

• large-scale assessment
• General Certificate of Secondary Education
• tiering
• differentiated papers

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Sarah Maughan, Paul Black, Roger Murphy, Tina Isaacs, Gordon Stobart, Alastair Pollitt and Angus Alton for their comments on an early version of the paper.

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and are not to be taken as the views of the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Qingping He

Dr Qingping He is a principal researcher at the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual). His research interests include assessment development, assessment reliability and validity, test equating, item banking, computer-based testing (including computer adaptive testing) and qualification standards.

Dennis Opposs

Dennis Opposs is the director of standards at the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual). His research interests include qualification design, assessment development, standards setting and maintenance, and policy development.

Matthew Glanville

Dr Matthew Glanville was a lead researcher at the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual). His research interests focus on qualification design and development, reliability and validity and accountability measures.

Fatima Lampreia-Carvalho

Dr Fatima Lampreia-Carvalho is a senior researcher at the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual). Her research interests include accessibility and fairness of educational assessments.