Ofqual refuses to release its evidence to the government’s Curriculum and Assessment Review

To do so would be to “prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs,” says the exams regulator in response to a freedom of information request from Education Uncovered, prompted by what seemed a cautious statement by the review on cutting the exams burden for young people.

 

The government’s exams regulator has rejected a Freedom of Information request by this website for the evidence it submitted to the Department for Education’s curriculum and assessment review (CAR), partly on the grounds that to release the detail would be to “prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs”.

Education Uncovered had been curious as to what advice Ofqual had offered the review, after the latter had referenced “analysis” which the regulator had provided to it on the possibility of cutting the amount of time students spend taking GCSE exams, but offered no further detail.

The final report of the review, which lasted for just over a year and was led by Professor Becky Francis of the Education Endowment Foundation, had said: “In analysis submitted to the Review, Ofqual considered that a reduction of 10% is feasible with current content levels.”

Curious as to what this analysis had found in detail – and knowing that exam boards had suggested what sounded like greater reductions in the “exams burden” – I FOI’d Ofqual, asking for: “The evidence that Ofqual submitted to the DfE’s Curriculum and Assessment Review, which concluded last year.”

The exam burden on students is clearly a matter of public interest, with what seemed quite a cautious response on this from the government at the time a feature of media coverage. So what had Ofqual’s analysis found, the public might wonder?

However, Ofqual responded that it would not be providing its evidence to the public.