Assessment and learning loss in England: never let a good crisis go to waste

Disruption of the status quo caused by the pandemic in England provides a lens to view the priorities embedded in the qualifications system. The Government’s initial priority was to avert grade inflation, followed by a populist turn to teacher assessment after a widespread backlash. Subsequent Government arguments for the return to examinations as the fairest way to assess re-introduced policies which emphasised excellence agenda. Learning loss, a consequence of the pandemic, compounded pre-existing patterns of inequality. Inclusive policies to address this in the qualification system would require fundamentally different ways of thinking compared to, for example, the current adaptations that are made for young people with special educational needs because the modern inclusion agenda is broader. The excellence agenda assumes a competitive system in which educational resources must be rationed; that there will be winners and losers. We question this logic, arguing for principles that would underpin a more inclusive qualification system. Since 2015, pupils must stay in education or training until they are 18. Thus, at very least, rationing educational access before this is unwarranted. A modern approach would be more flexible, putting learners first and embrace diversity rather than standardisation as the main principle for fair assessment.