Board chastised for too lenient maths marking
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.An exam board was too lenient in its marking of maths and science GCSE exams last summer, an official inquiry said yesterday, writes Judith Judd.
The inquiry by the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority investigated why there was a 10 per cent rise in B grades awarded by two boards and a fall in the number of Cs.
It found marking by the Southern Examining Group was too lenient. The report was less critical of the University of London Examination and Assessment Council but found the standard for grade B for borderline candidates in science was not acceptable. Candidates will not have grades changed as a result of the inquiry.
Gillian Shephard, Secretary of State for Education, said standards for GCSE grades were appropriate in most cases. But she added: "I am concerned at the evidence of a degree of variation . . . at the grade boundary of B and C by two groups in particular syllabuses. It is important that all necessary action is taken to prevent such a situation occurring again."
Marking procedures are to be tightened to ensure grades are consistent between boards.
George Turnbull, of the Southern Examining Group, said that officials from the authority had attended the meetings at which grades had been awarded and had not commented on the paper or the grades. He said that inspectors from the Office for Standards inEducation had concluded standards of marking had been carried forward from 1993.
Mrs Shephard has also agreed the number of syllabuses offered by the five boards in English, maths and science should be cut back to one in English and two each in maths and science. At present there are about 20 maths syllabuses and 15 for double-award science.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments