Education secretary condemns exam board mistakes
The education secretary James Cleverly has responded to the education select committee chairman Robert Halfon, acknowledging a series of mistakes in exam papers and advance information, calling them “unacceptable”.
The letter said: “While there were only a small number of substantive errors, including those related to advance information, any errors are unacceptable and risk causing unnecessary stress for students, who have worked so hard to prepare for their exams.”
Robert Halfon has demanded fines for exam boards, and Cleverly response has said Ofqual could take “regulatory action”.
The letter says: "Where genuine errors did occur, Ofqual are overseeing the work of awarding organisations to make sure students interests are protected and the integrity of the qualification is upheld. This includes closely monitoring the awarding process to make sure that students are not disadvantaged compared to those taking the same qualification with another exam board."
The letter continues: "Ofqual has rules to safeguard the delivery of qualifications and if awarding organisations do not comply with those, Ofqual can take regulatory action."
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