To mark A-level results day tomorrow, the Department of Education has released a podcast which explores the assessment system and A-Level grading.
The podcast, which is part of a series by the Oxford Education Deanery, features Associate Professor of Educational Assessment Michelle Meadows, who is now an academic at the Department and previously was Deputy Chief Regulator at Ofqual, and Religious Studies teacher, Jonny Tridgell.
Senior Departmental Lecturer, Hamish Chalmers, who is co-Director of the Oxford Education Deanery is interviewing.
Hamish said: “A-level results day is a hugely impactful day in the life of anyone who is hoping to go to university. I remember the day well myself – collecting the manila envelope and then walking around the city centre for a couple of hours plucking up the courage to open it.
“In this podcast we explore some of the burning questions around A-level assessment – are grade boundaries for different subjects set differently? If I have an identified educational need is this taken into account? How are grade boundaries achieved?
“We wanted to explore some of these questions and demystify some of the unknowns for people. Jonny gives us an on-the-ground perspective of what it’s like to be a teacher, supporting students through achieving qualifications. Michelle explains to us how the process works behind the scenes and the mechanisms for assessment.
“Hopefully the podcast can give clarity to teachers, parents and students and, of course, we wish students the very best of luck with their A-level results.”
The Oxford Education Deanery is based at the Department of Education and empowers educators worldwide to understand, use, and co-produce high-quality research evidence in education.
They offer training top-ups, a range of short courses, and events for professionals and educators looking to engage with Oxford’s world-leading research, and each other.
Find out more about the Oxford Education Deanery on the Department’s website: Oxford Education Deanery – Department of Education
To listen to this podcast, and any from the Deanery Digest series, go to the University of Oxford’s podcast page: Deanery Digests | University of Oxford Podcasts
Or listen to more from the Department of Education: https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/units/department-education
Pearson will implement the study in nearly 450 schools, partnering with the Department’s Oxford University Centre for Educational Assessment (OUCEA) in England and Northern Ireland for data analysis and reporting.
Pearson has been appointed as the National Centre to conduct the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2026 in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
Contracts were awarded to Pearson by England’s Department for Education, the Scottish Government, and the Department for Education Northern Ireland following a competitive tendering process.
In total, around 60 countries and economies are expected to participate in PIRLS 2026, which is conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Education Achievement (IEA) and provides high-quality data for monitoring progress in students’ reading achievement of pupils aged 9 to 10 years old around the world.
Pearson will operate as the National Centre for PIRLS 2026. It will be responsible for the delivery of the study in approximately 150 schools in each of England, Northern Ireland and Scotland with Associate Professor Grace Grima, Director of International Assessments at Pearson, as National Research Co-Ordinator.
For England and Northern Ireland, the Oxford University Centre for Educational Assessment (OUCEA), which is based at the University of Oxford’s Department of Education, will be responsible for the data analysis, writing of the national reports and the dissemination of the PIRLS 2026 results, under the leadership of Associate Professor Ariel Lindorff.
Associate Professor Ariel Lindorff, OUCEA, said: “We are very pleased to have this opportunity to build on past successes working with Pearson on PIRLS in England as well as to conduct the analysis and reporting for PIRLS in Northern Ireland for the first time.
“I am confident that our research team’s expertise in analysing and interpreting PIRLS data, as well as in relevant policy in England and Northern Ireland, will be an asset in the 2026 cycle of PIRLS.”
Pearson has substantial expertise in international contracts, having already delivered two cycles of PIRLS in England: PIRLS 2016 and PIRLS 2021 as well as Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2019 and 2023. Pearson has also delivered the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland,
Associate Professor Grace Grima, Director of International Assessments at Pearson, said: “Pearson is delighted to once again be awarded the PIRLS contract for England, as well as for Northern Ireland and Scotland for the first time.
“We look forward to bringing our expertise in online delivery, as well as our strong links with schools, for this important study which provides a rich insight into reading achievements of children around the world.”
Data collection for PIRLS 2026 will run through May-June 2026 with the results released in December 2027.
A new video series from the Oxford University Centre for Educational Assessment (OUCEA) outlines key messages in assessment and provides top tips for education practitioners.
In the first film, ‘Understanding Formative Assessment & Giving Good Feedback’, Professor Gordon Stobart (UCL), Associate Professor Victoria Elliott (Oxford University), Daisy Christodoulou (No More Marking), and Natalie Usher (Oxford University) discuss the importance of formative assessment and how to give students good feedback.
In the second film, ‘Understanding marking and mark schemes’, Associate Professor Michelle Meadows (Oxford University), Dr Ed Wolfe (Pearson) and Anne Pinot de Moira (Consultant) discuss the importance of marking reliability, problems in producing it and ways of making assessment more reliable, including through good mark scheme design.
Visit the OUCEA website to see all the episodes as they become available.
The video series was funded by Oxford University’s Teaching Development and Enhancement fund.
Join us to learn how to build assessment expertise through our Masters in Educational Assessment. Hear about the course content and ethos, and the experiences of our students. This event is for individuals who may be interested in learning more about assessment and organisations looking to strengthen the expertise of their workforce.
A new, open-access book was launched at the British Educational Research Association conference this week, on the state of teach education.
Professor Jo-Anne Baird‘s chapter, on policy negotations in initial teacher education addresses what is at stake, why teacher education matters and how the education sector in England tried to influence teacher education policy to build on the research evidence. Only days after its launch, the book has had hundreds of downloads.
The education system is not the same as before the pandemic. We need policies that address the current situation if we are to improve standards. Professor Jo-Anne Baird (Director of the Oxford University Centre for Educational Assessment) speaks to The Today programme.
Listen here:
Jamie Stiff and colleagues have looked at the 221 academic publications on the Progress in International Reading Study, the world’s largest reading assessment. They found that:
- Most articles used PIRLS data for secondary data analysis.
- Research related to attainment gaps has increased since 2015.
- 20% of articles were critiques of PIRLS constructs and/or procedures.
- PIRLS remains underutilised for researching reading literacy.
The full article can be found here:
Stiff, J., Lenkeit, J., Hopfenbeck, T.N., Kayton, H. and McGrane, J.A. (2023) Research engagement in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study: A systematic review. Educational Research Review, 40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2023.100547