Independent school heads highlight ‘major problem’ with IGCSE

Independent school head teachers have voiced concerns over the Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) English Language IGCSE.

The Headmasters’ and Headmistress’ Conference (HMC) and Girls’ Schools Association (GSA) have claimed that there is ‘overwhelming evidence’ that there was a ‘major problem’ with the exam.

Statistical analysis has been published in a new report, which suggests there were huge disparities in the grades awarded to pupils, with a large number of independent schools coming forward to report problems, representing 30 per cent of the national entries.

HMC and GSA have described the results as ‘unsafe’, citing issues with grade boundaries as the main cause of the problem. They have also warned that 200,000 state school pupils could also have been affected.

Both organisations are calling on Ofqual to formally review the qualification and ensure similar mistakes do not affect this year’s candidates.

Chris King, chair of HMC and headmaster of Leicester Grammar School, said: “Yet again, schools have known that students have been graded unfairly but have been unable to gain justice for pupils under the current system. We are deeply frustrated by the denials and unconvincing explanations received from the examinations industry – in this case Cambridge International Examinations and the regulator Ofqual.

“Following months of meetings with the exam board and fruitless formal appeals made by schools we have been compelled to publish this report in order to ensure greater transparency, confidence and fairness for future candidates.”

Caroline Jordan, president of GSA and headmistress of Headington School, said: “Schools have suspected for months that last summer’s Cambridge IGCSE English Language candidates received the wrong grade and now this rigorous statistical analysis has proven it.”

“What the CIE should now do is reverse the incorrect grading of 2015 which has had devastating consequences for thousands of pupils. At the very least it is imperative that CIE learns from its mistakes and ensures that all grades it awards and signs off this summer are accurate.”

Malcolm Trobe, acting general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Many ASCL members who lead state-maintained schools reported very similar concerns after last summer’s results to the grade awarding errors clearly identified in the report now published by HMC and GSA.”

“Thanks to this valuable new research we can see that school leaders in both independent and state schools were entirely right to doubt the accuracy of many of the grades awarded by Cambridge for its English-Language IGCSE in 2015.”

Roderic Gillespie, director of Assessment at Cambridge International Examinations, contended: “This report is flawed, and is based on a very small sample of self-selecting schools unhappy with their results. There is no evidence in the report to justify re-grading the exam papers.

“We sympathise with students disappointed by their results. However, the vast majority of schools whose students took IGCSE First Language English last summer saw results similar to the previous year. We take very seriously our duty to ensure that all the exams our students take are fair, and that all students receive the right grade. We are confident that we have done this for IGCSE First Language English.”