Assessment without standardisation is not examining, it is simply an expression of teachers’ and pupils’ hopes (“Schools told to work out their own exam grades”, Feb 25). Likewise, building “voluntary” mini-tests from question banks is not an exam, it is a lesson.
Last year the government said that non-standardised, school-produced grades would bring about 12 per cent grade inflation at A-level. This year it will be more than that, and without national grade boundaries or relativity it is hard to see how schools can pitch grading accurately. Some might point to historical grade definitions but what will these mean in an exam-free context with discrepancy between what each school has covered? Everyone understands that there is no easy win.