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| Version 5 | Version 6 |
|---|---|
| Sats firm elbowed out of appeals | Sats firm elbowed out of appeals |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| The government's school exams agency for England is taking control of the re-marking of disputed test papers from its contractor, ETS Europe. | The government's school exams agency for England is taking control of the re-marking of disputed test papers from its contractor, ETS Europe. |
| The National Assessment Agency is to step in with immediate effect, as delays in issuing the results continue. | The National Assessment Agency is to step in with immediate effect, as delays in issuing the results continue. |
| Head teachers have warned already that a record number of test papers will be sent back for re-marking this year. | Head teachers have warned already that a record number of test papers will be sent back for re-marking this year. |
| A spokesman for the watchdog said it was acting to restore schools' confidence in the system. | A spokesman for the watchdog said it was acting to restore schools' confidence in the system. |
| Markers who would have been checking papers for ETS will now work for the National Assessment Agency (NAA). | Markers who would have been checking papers for ETS will now work for the National Assessment Agency (NAA). |
| Deadline | Deadline |
| The deadline for re-marking has been pushed back from mid-July to 10 September - or 10 days after all the test scripts have been returned to schools. | The deadline for re-marking has been pushed back from mid-July to 10 September - or 10 days after all the test scripts have been returned to schools. |
| With an expected increased number of complaints over marking, the process is set to drag on into the autumn. | With an expected increased number of complaints over marking, the process is set to drag on into the autumn. |
| The announcement that the NAA is intervening directly is the latest stage in the attempts to clear up the unresolved problems in this year's results for tests taken by 11 and 14-year-olds in England. | The announcement that the NAA is intervening directly is the latest stage in the attempts to clear up the unresolved problems in this year's results for tests taken by 11 and 14-year-olds in England. |
| Almost three weeks after the deadline for returning test results, there are still schools waiting for their marks and returned test papers. | Almost three weeks after the deadline for returning test results, there are still schools waiting for their marks and returned test papers. |
| On Friday, 16% of English papers for 14-year-olds still had not been returned. | On Friday, 16% of English papers for 14-year-olds still had not been returned. |
| There are also still some primary schools waiting for their complete set of marks. | There are also still some primary schools waiting for their complete set of marks. |
| Questions | |
| England's Schools Secretary, Ed Balls, has said that he has been assured that there is no reason to believe that there are any problems with the quality of the marking. | |
| But the head of education at the National Union of Teachers (NUT), John Bangs, said it was the first time a government agency had indicated, tacitly, that there was a question over the quality of marking. | |
| "They wouldn't take away re-marking if they didn't have anxiety about the quality of it." | |
| Shadow children's secretary Michael Gove said: "This is another blow to the credibility of Ed Balls's handling of this years' exam marking fiasco. | |
| "He told us that the marking of this year's exam scripts was at least as good as in previous years. But now the company he put his trust in has been stripped of the right to re-mark the thousands of papers whose quality is in question." | |
| He said Mr Balls had failed to answer "the second half of the question": what was going to happen about next year's tests? | |
| 'Frustrated' | 'Frustrated' |
| Meanwhile, minutes have been published of the meeting of the QCA's board on 21 May, by which time it was known there were significant problems. | Meanwhile, minutes have been published of the meeting of the QCA's board on 21 May, by which time it was known there were significant problems. |
| They show that NAA managing director David Gee told the board that ETS, in their first year responsible for the marking of the tests, had been having "some difficulties in support for the 10,000 markers". | They show that NAA managing director David Gee told the board that ETS, in their first year responsible for the marking of the tests, had been having "some difficulties in support for the 10,000 markers". |
| "Although the marker training content was improved on previous years the logistics for the training of markers, delayed script delivery and over busy helplines has frustrated markers," the minutes say. | "Although the marker training content was improved on previous years the logistics for the training of markers, delayed script delivery and over busy helplines has frustrated markers," the minutes say. |
| They add: "National Assessment Agency staff are working closely with ETS staff to ensure smoother operations going forward." | They add: "National Assessment Agency staff are working closely with ETS staff to ensure smoother operations going forward." |
| The QCA's chief executive, Ken Boston, later told a committee of MPs that the NAA had become so concerned about the emerging problems - such as 10,000 unanswered e-mails - that it had up to 70 staff working alongside ETS. | The QCA's chief executive, Ken Boston, later told a committee of MPs that the NAA had become so concerned about the emerging problems - such as 10,000 unanswered e-mails - that it had up to 70 staff working alongside ETS. |
| Dr Boston said they had found:
|
| An inquiry headed by Lord Sutherland has been set up to investigate the problems with this year's results. It is expected to report in the autumn. | An inquiry headed by Lord Sutherland has been set up to investigate the problems with this year's results. It is expected to report in the autumn. |