Decades of politicians playing with A-Levels and GCSEs have left students with a confusing and unfair system

However, the T level program is only offered in limited locations: 367 of England’s 3,793 secondary schools and further education colleges. They remain the poor relation compared to the more “academic” baccalaureates: some universities still do not accept T baccalaureates to access courses. This perhaps explains the introduction of the Advanced British Standard.

The Advanced British Standard is not a specific qualification. This is a framework of qualifications reflecting some of the post-16 portfolio designs of other European countries. Students can choose a range of subjects, with specialization in some, with the option of combining academic and professional qualifications.

The proposition of being able to build a portfolio of evidence is attractive because it reflects a more representative view of individual student achievements. It remains to be seen whether it will be developed during the next government mandate, given the scale of the challenges currently facing the public education system.

Restore trust

Perhaps the most important issue any new government must address when it comes to the testing system is public trust. In 2020, when exams were canceled due to pandemic lockdowns, students received externally assigned grades. These were later withdrawn due to allegations of unfairness – before teacher-predicted grades were used instead. These poor policy decisions have cast a long shadow of distrust over the fairness of our assessment systems.

Exams regulator Ofqual’s annual survey of perceptions of GCSEs shows that less than half of respondents are confident that the qualifications represent a reliable standard over time and that grading is accurate.

A valuable opportunity to change how assessment works was missed post-pandemic. This time could have been used to reflect not only on what happened in 2020, but also on what could be different. The rush to return to normal has led us back to focusing on testing rather than thinking about better ways to assess and document learning.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Mary Richardson does not work for, consult, own shares in, or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond her academic appointment.