Teach Secondary Issue 13.6

How much is too much? With assessment demands often figuring high in teachers’ complaints regarding workload, exactly howmuch assessment is toomuch? Al Kinglsey offers his thoughts... ABOUT THE AUTHOR Al Kinglsey is a multi academy trust chair and CEO of NetSupport; for more details, visit netsupportsoftware.com TEACH SECONDARY SPECIAL ASSESSMENT I N A S S O C I AT I O N W I T H + I s there such a thing as too much student assessment – and if so, how can you tell where the limit should be? Assessment will continue to be a crucial pillar of the education system, since being able to measure, track and benchmark what and howwell students are learning is vital for ensuring they’re getting the most from their education. That said, however, the annual gauntlet of exams, and the extent to which they influence a young person’s education pathway, should prompt us to reflect on whether we’re currently getting the balance right when it comes to assessment. Lost amid the noise Assessment’s dual role as both a gateway to the next stage of student’s educational journey and a means of gauging a school’s performance has become so dominant that its core purpose – assessing howwell students have been learning – can get lost amid the noise. In December 2023, the House of Lords Education for 11–16 Year Olds Committee published a report that reflected on the current system of KS4 assessment (see bit.ly/ ts136-AK1). This included the finding that GCSE students are taking up to 30 hours of examinations, alongside testimonies from both students and teachers that the existing assessment systemhas given rise to increased workloads and heightened stress levels. As well as expressing concerns regarding the subsequent impact of this on the wellbeing of students and staff alike, the report’s authors suggested that the existing system places ‘undue emphasis’ on exam preparation, with as much as one-sixth of the potential learning time in Y10-Y11 being spent on elements such as teaching exam rubrics and exam technique. Based on this evidence, it would seem the structure of the current assessment system is causing valuable teaching time and resources to be concentrated on teaching students how to pass exams, rather than enhancing their subject knowledge and skills inmore meaningful ways. Teachers have reported having to cut short discussions of topics students find interesting in favour of covering exam content, thus leaving less time for fostering students’ natural curiosity and encouraging their enjoyment of learning. Just a snapshot There’s an age-old argument that says sitting final examinations at the end of the school year or Key Stage cycle can be unfair, amounting to just a snapshot of a student’s performance on one arbitrary day. Yet this position is perhaps more relevant than ever, given the changing circumstances of the modern world, and growing recognition of the need to support the development of the whole child. If we want to genuinely empower all young people and see themflourish, then we must guarantee that the education system– and by extension, our assessments – reflect the new realities of the world, prioritise student wellbeing and accommodate student’s individual needs and strengths. We should ensure that students are being provided with skills that the current system of assessment isn’t so adept at measuring – such as critical thinking and creativity, which will undoubtedly grow in importance as technology plays an ever-greater role in shaping our world. An holistic overview The harnessing of technology in and of itself may actually provide a solution to the overburdening of teachers – by automatically logging a student’s learning journey, for example, thus helping teachers evaluate their progress and arrive at an holistic overview, without the need for extra formal assessments. This would allow for a much more flexible approach to assessment, potentially resulting in a more accurate understanding of student progress, while letting teachers respond to struggling students with additional support based on their learning needs. As educators, our goal is to prepare learners to enter the world as confident, curious and competent young adults, capable of rising to any challenge. Overloading them with a treadmill of examinations risks jeopardising that goal. 31 teachwire.net/secondary