Recent years have seen a surge in calls for a reassessment of our education system, with the Times Education Commission report serving as a prominent example. On 17 January 2023, I had the pleasure of co-hosting the Next Generation Assessment conference at London's Drapers' Hall. The conference was the first of its kind, gathering school educators, experts from Further and Higher Education, economists, business leaders, student representatives, ex-ministers, and think tank professionals.
The event featured a diverse range of speakers. Notably, keynote speeches by esteemed economist Andy Haldane and distinguished global education policy expert Dr Beatriz Pont were instrumental in framing the conference's central themes. Their presentations highlighted how educational reform is being discussed globally, with multimodal assessment, student engagement and equity key to the conversation. Yet, even as other countries engage on the issue, the UK lags behind.
Andy Haldane also noted the impact of changing demographics and growing inequality on global systems, including education and assessment. Finally, he discussed the emerging technologies that will shape what students need to learn in future, and how these can also create new educational opportunities.
These themes resonated with many attendees at the conference, including myself. As an educator, I am passionate about curriculum and assessment. I have had the privilege to teach in various schools, including state and independent, boarding, day, single-sex, and co-educational. Yet despite seeing many students excel within the current system, I firmly believe that reform is necessary. Why?
For a start, exams are a significant source of stress for students. Arguably the mental health impact of high-stakes assessment at the end of Y11 and Y13 alone justifies reform. More fundamentally, though, the current system fails to measure young people's full capabilities. While schools have greater capacity to offer learning experiences that nurture additional skills, exams remain the centrepiece and that will always be limiting.
The core issue raised by our keynote speakers, though, was equity in education. Equity is not just about social mobility but relates to things like diversity and access. Young people need to see themselves and their communities reflected in the curriculum, but more often than not, this does not happen.
The focus on academic achievement, for example, can disincentivise those whose skills and aspirations lie elsewhere. In addition, the current system is poorly suited to those with disabilities and learning differences. While there are special measures in place to support them, these will never fully alleviate the pressure of performing in time-constrained exam environments.
But these problems aside, the real issue is that most students see little relevance in how they are being assessed. We need to engage them with a curriculum that grabs their interest and assess them in ways which have practical applications. The current system assesses a very narrow band of skills like memorization and working alone and under pressure. While these have their benefits, they are ill-suited to preparing students to take their place in a changing and challenging world. We need to think creatively and urgently about how we can diversify assessment in ways which enhance learning, improve motivation and respond to current and future needs.
I strongly believe that the dominance of terminal exams in assessment militates against students whose natural abilities lie elsewhere. The student panel at the conference echoed this sentiment, expressing their desire for things like creativity, collaboration, and innovative thinking to be assessed, too. These are, after all, the skills they see being valued in the world around them.
Not all assessment has to be the same, nor does it have to serve the same purpose. We will always need assessment that helps hold schools to account and this is perhaps where adaptive testing could best fit in. But this should not be the end of the story. We need to make space for other styles too which develop the sort of skills the student panel advised, engaging students in collaborative exercises, presentations and meaningful research.
So what does the future hold? We need to bring together stakeholders from across the educational spectrum, including universities, colleges of Further Education, employers and schools to share and agree a direction of travel. Some argue that the education sector is divided. Indeed, many voices and viewpoints need airing. But if we can reach agreement on the core principles of future assessment – as the conference discussions suggest is eminently possible – it would send a potent message.
Devising new forms of assessment that command confidence is not an easy task. It should, nonetheless, be a priority on the educational agenda if we are to prepare young people effectively for the challenges ahead. There are plenty of exemplars at home and abroad, such as the Extended Project Qualification, to point the way.
Politically, there is growing interest in educational reform, evidenced by the establishment of an all-party parliamentary group to examine assessment. The challenge now is to maintain public attention on this issue. Thankfully, the efforts of organisations like the Edge Foundation and Rethinking Assessment provide reason for hope. While it is true that previous attempts at educational reform have met with mixed success, failure is no longer an option. It is because we face these major challenges that we must continue the conversation and remain committed to change. The future of young people depends on it.
Sarah Fletcher is High Mistress of St. Paul’s Girls’ School and co-host of the Next Generation Assessment Conference.
The conference was organised by the Edge Foundation in partnership with HMC, ASCL, Rethinking Assessment and St Paul’s Girls’ School. You can find conference highlights and panel sessions here.