Dennis Sherwood

Creativity, innovation, systems thinking, and trustworthy exam grades - and award-winning author too!

[Dennis Sherwood @noookophile]

@FrankWNorris Thank you, as ever, Frank. As regards grades, for GCSE, AS and A level in England, about 1 grade in every 4 is wrong, with no right of appeal. That 's about 1.6 million grades this August, an average of more than one grade for every candidate in the land. https://t.co/7Pjyohvsl8

[Dennis Sherwood @noookophile]

@BarbaraBleiman As indeed did Andy Burnham...

[Dennis Sherwood @noookophile]

@LauraTrottMP Not the only marking scandal this year - this one at West Notts College too: both symptoms of a much deeper problem of marking and grading errors. @tes @DanWorth @jon_severs @SecEd_Education @CommonsEd @aliciakearns @cazjwheeler
https://t.co/60Tw2pPOTi
https://t.co/UoTtwEmBVJ

[Dennis Sherwood @noookophile]

This year, as in previous years, about 1.5 MILLION GCSE, AS and A level grades will be wrong. With no right of appeal.
How long can this damage continue?
Thank you, John Gibbs, for a lively discussion!
@CommonsEd @Appg_Schools @HMC_Org @cazjwheeler @tes

https://t.co/goqrTIp9OG

[Dennis Sherwood @noookophile]

@SecEd_Education And here's a BIG WHISTLE. For GCSE, AS and A level exams in England, one grade in every four is wrong. And the rules for appeals were changed in 2016 to cover this disgrace up. @cazjwheeler @CommonsEd @Appg_Schools @aliciakearns

https://t.co/6kiICQs5Ag
https://t.co/AMB44n2a9y

[Dennis Sherwood @noookophile]

@Math_files And a wonderful example of mathematical creativity - see page 28 here: https://t.co/WNVQyrHqR6

[Dennis Sherwood @noookophile]

@DrFrostMaths Talking of boxplots... Today's exam question:

Given this data, what is the average reliability of GCSE, AS and A level grades? (5 marks)
What are the implications of your answer (15 marks)

Source: Marking Consistency Metrics - An update, https://t.co/TEu0yfVz4d

[Dennis Sherwood @noookophile]

@mathladyhazel Or is it Vaserely's?

[Dennis Sherwood @noookophile]

@JerseyGeneral34 @Math_files or perhaps unreal...

[Dennis Sherwood @noookophile]

Great that my blog about wrong exam grades, published last Friday, is in the top 5 "most read" items on @TES!
https://t.co/UoTtwEmBVJ
@DanWorth @jon_severs @cerysturner7 @CommonsEd @Appg_Schools @HMC_Org @ASCL_UK @NEUnion @SFCA_info @AoC_info @miss_mcinerney @heymrshallahan

[Dennis Sherwood @noookophile]

5 posts; each its own story; collectively, an indictment of school exams.
https://t.co/YDAh7kICjM
https://t.co/PgZce3oaML
https://t.co/wKjmVBFYYU
https://t.co/0MT1W62kgA
https://t.co/3J5aQQ2Pr0
@CommonsEd @APPG_schools @cazjwheeler @miss_mcinerney @DanWorth @SecEd_Education

[Dennis Sherwood @noookophile]

How many wrong GCSE, AS and A level grades are not discovered, and corrected, by a challenge? Many more than you might think. My thanks to @DanWorth and all @tes.
@CommonsEd @Appg_Schools @steveyemm @BBCMoreOrLess @bbcemt @BBCNottingham @cazjwheeler
https://t.co/UoTtwEmBVJ

[Dennis Sherwood @noookophile]

@tes Ofqual's research shows that about 39% of GCSE English Language grades are "non-definitive"/"wrong". Of the 801,787 students who sat that exam in summer 2025, that's about 312,697 who were 'awarded' wrong grades. They all have to be somewhere...perhaps in your school?
@CommonsEd

[Dennis Sherwood @noookophile]

Ofqual's research shows that about 39% of GCSE English Language grades are "non-definitive"/"wrong". Of the 801,787 students who sat that exam in summer 2025, that's about 312,697 who were 'awarded' wrong grades. They all have to be somewhere...perhaps in your school? @CommonsEd

[Tes magazine @tes]

Schools are right to look carefully at the grades their students are awarded on results day – as this college’s story of grading mistakes shows, writes @noookophile
https://t.co/HmafouO0IA

[Dennis Sherwood @noookophile]

Yes, few indeed. Quite possibly, of the 189,535 students who sat 9 GCSEs, none. That's because the probability of getting 9 first-time-right grades could well be as low as one-in-a-million. Exam grades are probably much less reliable and trustworthy than you might think...

[SecEd @SecEd_Education]

How many students got nine correct grades – with no marking or grading errors – on their GCSE certificate in August 2025? New analysis from Dennis Sherwood – @noookophile – using #Ofqual data suggests few did. He sets out his findings here: https://t.co/lVPMPT5LNg #GCSEs #schools

[Dennis Sherwood @noookophile]

Which all leads to these important questions:

[SecEd @SecEd_Education]

How many students got nine correct grades – with no marking or grading errors – on their GCSE certificate in August 2025? New analysis from Dennis Sherwood – @noookophile – using #Ofqual data suggests few did. He sets out his findings here: https://t.co/5201kKYfJR #GCSEs #schools

[Dennis Sherwood @noookophile]

Here are five important resulting questions:
@CommonsEd @Appg_Schools @HMC_Org @ASCL_UK @NEUnion @SFCA_info @AoC_info @cazjwheeler @louise_eccles @poppyeh @RSylvester1 @Melissa_Benn @miss_mcinerney @profbeckyallen @BeckyFrancis7 @DanWorth @FrankWNorris @fazack @BBCMoreOrLess

[SecEd @SecEd_Education]

How many students got nine correct grades – with no marking or grading errors – on their GCSE certificate in August 2025? New analysis from Dennis Sherwood – @noookophile – using #Ofqual data suggests few did. He sets out his findings here https://t.co/5201kKYfJR #GCSEs #schools

[Dennis Sherwood @noookophile]

How many of the 189,535 students who took 9 GCSEs last summer were awarded 9 error-free grades? You might be surprised by my answer... quite likely, zero. Thank you, @SecEd_Education!
@cazjwheeler @miss_mcinerney @CommonsEd @Appg_Schools @profbeckyallen
https://t.co/BQK0r1H8zQ

[Dennis Sherwood @noookophile]

@BarbaraBleiman @BBCNews At best, 40% of Eng Lang grades are wrong. Very few are corrected by an appeal.
https://t.co/C6XUVaEdPl
https://t.co/Nnim3qCwiN
https://t.co/O5vQL3A12s
@RSylvester1 @DanWorth @CommonsEd @Appg_Schools @miss_mcinerney @heymrshallahan @BBCMoreOrLess @HMC_Org @ASCL_UK @NEUnion

[Dennis Sherwood @noookophile]

@FrankWNorris Frank is absolutely right. But what would you expect Lord Gove and Lady Spielman to say? Especially when they were rewarded - so becoming Lord and Lady respectively - in the first place?