A-level and GCSE candidates receiving their results this week should feel “satisfied” their grades are fair, the head of Ofqual has said, the BBC reports.
Simon Lebus, from the regulator which oversees exams in England, spoke out to defend the system of teacher assessed grades this year.
His comments come as a swell of news and comment articles suggest mounting concern that this year’s marks will be subject to significant grade inflation, devaluing students’ work and threatening their futures.
He said teacher assessments give a “much more accurate reflection” of what students can achieve and the bar to appeal against grades will be high.
Mr Lebus told the BBC: “Exams are a bit like a snapshot, a photograph – you capture an instant,
“Whereas teacher assessment allows teachers to observe student performance over a much longer period, taking into account lots of different pieces of work and arriving at a holistic judgement.
“I’m very confident that when they get their grades on Tuesday and Thursday this week they’ll be able to feel satisfied that that’s happened,” he said.
Quality control has been ensured by three stages of checks, including Ofqual looking at school policies on grades, exams boards checking grades and teachers double-checking colleagues’ grades.