Playing the system: incentives to ‘game’ and educational ethics in school examination entry policies in England

ABSTRACT

There has been a period of intense policy change involving GCSE examinations in England, proposed partly in response to schools using tactics to maximise performance against accountability measures. The reforms included a change to linear rather than modular entry, removing partial re-sits, and limiting early and multiple entry to examinations by changing school accountability measures. We present new empirical data from interviews conducted with senior teachers at 15 schools. The focus of these interviews has been in the English and mathematics departments; the first subjects to be examined in the new specifications. The data suggest that teachers acknowledge this practice of ‘gaming’ but only as something ‘other’ schools did. Whilst the reforms have now allowed for the system to be viewed as a more level playing field, teachers still describe a constant tension in the decisions surrounding examination entry. They describe the desire for a balance that is not just between school and student outcomes, but also between different outcomes such as motivation, performance, and engagement. Tensions arise between these outcomes when entry choices are being made.

KEYWORDS:

• Qualifications
• gaming
• examination entries
• GCSE

Acknowledgements

The project was conducted collaboratively between Oxford University Centre for Educational Assessment and Ofqual and is funded by Ofqual.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a grant from the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual).

Notes on contributors

Jenni Ingram

Jenni Ingram is Associate Professor of Mathematics Education at the University of Oxford. Her research interests focus on mathematics education, especially language and communication in mathematics classrooms and international comparative assessments.

Victoria Elliott

Victoria Elliott is Associate Professor of English and Literacy Education at the University of Oxford. Her research interests include curriculum, policy, and assessment in relation to secondary English teaching, particularly in relation to the teaching and learning of literature.

Caroline Morin

Caroline Morin is a research associate at the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. Her research interests focus on the reliability of marking, especially the causes of marker disagreement and the online training of examiners.

Ashmita Randhawa

Ashmita Randhawa is a research assistant and DPhil student at the University of Oxford. Her research interests include STEM education, secondary education policy, science policy, and technical education.

Carol Brown

Carol Brown is Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Education at Oxford Brookes University. Her research interests include the psychology of education, specifically achievement motivation, education and identity, educational inequalities and outcomes, and student well-being.