Senior exam officials have acknowledged that they had overestimated the percentage of students receiving additional time in exams due to special needs by more than 50 percent.
In a remarkable mistake, Ofqual, the examination supervisor, acknowledged that the actual number is significantly less than initially stated.
The error occurred due to the inclusion of repeated applications in its data over the past ten years.
Recent data revealed an astonishing 30% of students received additional time during their A-level and GCSE exams, marking a significant increase since 2016.
Nevertheless, currently, the regulator acknowledged that the actual percentage is probably below 19 per cent.
This indicates that Ofqual is now retracting ten years of data and plans to release the most recent statistics in the near future.
The error is considerable as the claimed substantial increase in children receiving additional time for special needs has turned into a political challenge for the administration.
Bridget Phillipson, the Minister for Education, has been struggling to fix the nation’s overburdened and ‘faulty’ special needs system.
As part of this, she requested Ofqual to investigate the significant difference in the proportion of students receiving additional time at private schools, which stands at 42 percent, compared to 27 percent at state schools.
Currently, Ofqual acknowledged that the actual numbers for private and state schools will closely match their respective special needs student groups.
Tom Bramley, the head of research and analysis at Ofqual, stated: ‘We are rectifying the information as quickly as possible.’
The procedure for access arrangements remains the same, and students who were provided with assistance did so correctly.
This problem is only related to our access arrangements data, and our other statistics remain unaffected.
In a blog entry, Mr Bramley mentioned that the mistake was caused by wrong information at the local level.
It covered individuals who did not take exams during the year being recorded, as well as repeated applications for the same student.
He further stated that the reporting relied on data that was not connected to specific student examination records, which made verification challenging.
He mentioned that the percentage of students who received special exam accommodations – such as additional time – was significantly more in line than previously stated with the percentage of students having special educational needs within the school population.
Students who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are eligible for additional time during examinations, with 25% extra time being the typical allowance.
It is referred to as an ‘access arrangement’ – other examples within this group involve the use of a reader or a scribe.
Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the school leaders’ union NAHT, stated: ‘Although it is disappointing that issues have been found with these figures, Ofqual has made the correct decision by retracting them and taking steps to fix and re-release them.’
It is essential to have accurate data regarding access arrangements in order to detect trends and changes throughout the system.
School administrators have definitely noticed a higher number of requests for special accommodations in recent years following the Covid pandemic, along with more cases of anxiety and mental health issues, and a notable increase in the number of children requiring extra support.
Ofqual plans to release updated data by the end of 2025, including information from the academic years starting in 2020/21.
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