Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what training the Government is providing for teachers on the new GCSE grades system.

The independent exams regulator Ofqual, the awarding organisations and the Department for Education (DfE) have been providing, since 2014, a full range of information including guidance to teachers on the new 9 to 1 grading scale for reformed GCSEs in England. All awarding organisations must comply with Ofqual’s General Conditions of Recognition, which include rules related to the provision of effective guidance to schools and colleges (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-the-general-conditions-of-recognition).

Ofqual’s information campaign on the changes to GCSEs and the new grading scale has included speaking events, regular newsletters as well as blogs, postcards, webinars and advertising on social media and catch up television. Additionally, in July 2016 and March this year all schools and colleges were sent a joint DfE/Ofqual slide pack which provides teachers with a single source of information about the changes to GCSEs, and also to AS and A levels. This can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/march-2017-ofqual-letter-to-schools.

More recently, on 20 and 21 June, we launched a new webpage (https://newgcses.campaign.gov.uk/) and fact sheets (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gcse-new-grading-scale-factsheets) which provide information for teachers, and also for students, parents, employers, and others who work in education.