Education Select Committee Chair @halfon4harlowMP claims @ofqual are essentially saying ‘not me, gov’ when determining blame for exams results fiasco. #Ofqual chair Roger Taylor says it was a “fundamental mistake" to believe the algorithm would "ever be acceptable to the public”.
Roger Taylor tells @CommonsEd - first option #OFQUAL they gave the secretary state was to offer exams in a "socially distanced manner", the second was to delay exams. It was the secretary of state who decided that exams would be cancelled, he says.
Roger Taylor Ofqual Chair says “we initially advised against cancelling exams.” They told DfE they shouldn't use mock exams for grades but DfE went ahead anyway. Ofqual claim they did everything they were asked to do by ministers.
Ofqual claim Gavin #Williamson “took the decision and announced, without further consultation with Ofqual, that exams were to be cancelled and a system of calculated grades was to be implemented.” OFQUAL had said using CAGs could not be delivered and be valid and trustworthy.
#OFQUAL Roger Taylor said situation was “rapidly getting out of control” and policies were being put forward by Gavin #Williamson that “weren’t consistent with our legal duties”.
#OFQUAL Julie Swan says they warned it would be “challenging, if not impossible” to do. Met with Nick Gibb weekly & there was a paper which predicted “widespread dissatisfaction” about grades. Briefed No 10 also.
#OFQUAL chair “The notion that a different algorithm would have been fairer is the wrong conclusion to take”....The level of accuracy that was fundamentally possible was "too low to be acceptable”. He says: “We identified this at the outset”.
Details of next year’s GCSEs & A levels weeks away, says @ofqual - keen for traditional exams to take place. “Absolutely essential” students can take fair, comparative test, Taylor says. If exams can't be done, there are mechanisms incl using online tests.
