* Make Britain Count 1. Home» 2. Education» 3. Education News Ofqual: 'We have to cheat, nanny and fiddle', teachers say Teachers have admitted “fiddling” exam grades and cheating to keep up with rivals they distrust, a report by Ofqual claims, as one reveals: “We have to cheat because other schools will be doing so.” Ofqual has written to exam boards, asking them to identify schools that are abusing rules on Ofqual has written to exam boards, asking them to identify schools that are abusing rules on "extra time" in GCSEs. Photo: ALAMY -- 02 Nov 2012 * Students using 'sob stories' for extra marks 24 Mar 2009 Another claimed he had been instructed to cheat in order to keep up with other schools and was encouraged to "fiddle" results, while a third suggested pupils must be "nannied through every stage". The evidence was compiled by Ofqual from interviews with more than 100 participating schools, and extracts taken from the TES web forum for teachers. A separate report this week showed how some 130 schools were penalised for cheating, with a further 60 teachers penalised for 'malpractice'. In their own words: how teachers were pressured into bending the system Quote I've just read my school e-mail to find the instructions for getting the CA [controlled assesssment] folders together, and including the instruction ‘All folders must be at or above target grade.’ This is being done by either getting kids to rewrite CAs after they've been marked, or by fiddling the Speaking and Listening grades to make up for lost marks on the written work. When I've dared to suggest that the CAs should be done in exam conditions and that lots of schools are doing that, I'm told that that is rubbish, that CAs are really coursework, and that we have to cheat because other schools will be doing so, and we cannot afford to let our results slip at all. Quote The drive to achieve targets is definitely corrupting and I loathe being made to feel that I am not doing right by my students because I am not making them stay behind after school week after week to rewrite the bloody things. -- Quote The school felt that proper regulation of CA was well-nigh impossible and that controlled conditions were being interpreted very differently in different schools. This was creating suspicion and distrust between schools. Quote I feel I am being made to cheat. I've taught the kids and then let them do the tasks - we have to do them in the classrooms, except for those who need access arrangements, who are under the beady eye of external invigilators. I taught my kids, gave them the opportunity to make notes, and then did the damned things like an exam. Result? Lots of them underperformed against their targets. Not good enough. This work, I am told, is really coursework, and has to be at target grade, or they will not reach their targets at the end of the course. Others in the department have done marked drafts. I'm now feeling pressured to get some of mine to redo various pieces. I've voiced my objections, but have been told that the long and the short of it is that they have to be nannied through at every stage - there is disbelief when I say that some schools are doing the CAs as exams. I resent the implication that I am failing my kids, when actually what they produce is probably more accurate as an indication of their abilities than their target grades are. The sooner this nonsense is stopped and we go back to 100 per cent exams, the better. -- Michael Rosen at the 2012 Telegraph Bath Festival Of Children's Literature pretends to be the dream-catching BFG from Roald Dahl Blue Peter Book Awards 2013 shortlist announced 'I’ll never have to repay my student loan' The £27,000 pensioner loophole: 'I’ll never have to repay my student loan' Advertisement telegraphuk Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. blog comments powered by Disqus