Ofqual set to review grades for language exams

Too few teenagers are gaining the very best grades in foreign languages, England’s exams regulator has suggested.

Ofqual has raised concerns that “relatively few” A* grades are being awarded in subjects such as Spanish, French and German, when compared with other subjects where a high proportion of A grades are given.

There are also “variations” in the proportions of A* and A grades awarded each year in different subjects, the regulator said in its new corporate plan for 2013-16.

It said it planned to address both issues, and make improvements “so that standards are as comparable and consistent as possible”.

Ofqual’s plan comes just days before about 300,000 sixth-formers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland receive their A-level results.

The report, which sets out Ofqual’s aims up until 2016, looks at Government plans to reform GCSEs and A-levels in England, and how the regulator will implement the changes.

It says that Ofqual does not plan to “recalibrate” standards when new A-levels, expected to be in subjects such as English, science, maths, history and geography, are introduced in September 2015.