From Richard West
In reply to Peter Hayward’s letter on examination standards
(23 September, p 51),
I suggest the reason politicians set such store by the rising trend in exam
results is simply that pass rates are rising. Therefore, they can claim they are
a measure of government success.
Has anyone ever tried reusing an old question in an exam, including a few
past replies in the papers submitted for marking, and then comparing the
outcomes? It seems to me the obvious method of validation. Inserting a
30-year-old maths question, for example, into a current paper without prior
warning is unlikely to give an advantage to students who have seen it
before.
Rwbr10038@blueyonder.co.uk
