EDITORIAL, MAY 2026

FAIR TEST?

Whatever else a fair test might be, its outcomes must be shown to be valid and reliable. In the case of a scientific investigation, this is because variables and constants are carefully controlled and the results of the investigation will then be subject to scrupulous peer review.

But when it comes to assessing student progress and attainment, what additional factors come into play? If we assume that knowing what a student understands is a desirable outcome of assessment, it’s not difficult to see why the outcomes of exam hall tests are valued. Important variables are, after all, under close control. Establishing ‘exam conditions’ means the examinee’s work is their own, and that the test outcomes are therefore valid and reliable.

Or are they? This year, ITM has been putting assessment under the microscope. Prompted by Steffen Sommer’s plea for ‘Assessment 3.0’  in September, contributors have argued for something more than traditional exam-style tests. Paradoxically, traditional assessment is generally seen as neither fair nor reliable. Some high-performers are simply better examinees. Others can cram huge amounts of information at the last moment with little real understanding and play the marking scheme. There is also the uncomfortable knowledge that when the ‘right’ questions come up, a lucky few (or many?) will benefit.

Sweeping away ‘coursework; from the British examination system in the 2010s has therefore come to be seen as real step backward. It wasn’t as if most people did not regard ‘examinations’ as important, but while the IB continued on the pathway of pluralistic assessment, it is argued that British-style examinations became narrow, unfair and unreliable.

Which perhaps explains the success of the EPQ or Extended Project Qualification, which Dr. John Taylor, one of its architects has described as a ‘quiet revolution’. Adopted by an increasing number of schools around the world it has also been recognised by universities as a valid indicator of student achievement for matriculation purposes. And because it is taken seriously by colleges and employers, students have an added incentive for taking it seriously themselves. 

Rigorously structured project-based learning as epitomised by the EPQ is surely here to stay, and with the introduction by Pearson of the HPQ and EPQ for younger students to sit alongside GCSE and lower secondary assessment, a fairer testing regime for students following a British-style curriculum looks like it will become more widely available once more, a development to be warmly welcomed.