Teachers will continue to have access to confidential assessment materials but Awarding Organisations must further strengthen the safeguards to mitigate the risks.

That is the main message from Ofqual’s latest consultation following a review of the risks and benefits of teacher involvement in exam material.

Whilst current rules on confidentiality and malpractice are demanding, these latest proposals aim to build on current Awarding Organisation practices.

Ofqual believes there are clear benefits to allowing teachers to be involved in the assessment process, but is proposing that Awarding Organisations strengthen:

• Effective mitigation of the risks of using teachers in the development of assessment materials, for example by making sure no teacher knows whether any assessments they have developed will be used, and by keeping records of conflicts of interest
• Support for teachers to “do the right thing”, through appropriate training and contractual obligations
• The detection of malpractice, for example by sampling the work of teachers who have written exam papers to look for any unusual patterns of response.