Teacher claims Ofqual 'aren't really interested' in students
17 August 2020, 12:14 | Updated: 17 August 2020, 12:20
Teacher claims Ofqual 'aren't really interested' in students
A teacher has claimed that Ofqual is more interested in protecting the exams system than students.
Angela, a teacher from Harrow, said she tells her students that the exams regulator sees them as a number and that only the school cares about their futures.
She told LBC's James O'Brien: "Ofqual aren't really that interested, I think, in students - they're interested in protecting the integrity of the exams system.
She added: "We always say to them 'we care about you, we care about your results and your future, but the exam board doesn't - the exam board sees you as a number'."
Responding to the scandal, James said: "In many way, the algorithm's inadequacies were largely foreseeable, but the sheer scale of the debacle probably couldn't have been foreseen.
"The Government's job should have been to work out where the tensions was between 'protecting the curve' and representing their constituents, representing their voters and their children - and they haven't."
It follows outrage from students, teachers and politicians over the new grading system that was introduced this year because students were not able to take their exams due to Covid-19.
Teachers were asked to award grades for their students, before those were ratified with an algorithm used by Ofqual, which used the past performance of schools to determine any changes to the grade.
Critics claims this meant thousands of high-achieving students in poor performance schools were downgraded unfairly and as a result have missed out on significant opportunities.
This week, the Government is facing call to either postpone GCSE results day - due on Thursday - or allow students to choose their predicted grades or mock exam results instead.
