Schools are ‘gaming’ exam system at the expense of poorer pupils, says Ofsted

A minority of schools are “gaming” the system at the expense of disadvantaged pupils in order to maximise their exam results, Ofsted warned today.

The watchdog raised concerns that some schools are “failing to act with integrity” as it released its annual report this morning.

It claimed a handful of schools are making decisions “in their own best interests” at the expense of a well-rounded education, with poorer pupils most likely to miss out.

The watchdog highlighted various forms of “gaming” in which schools try to make things look better than they really are.

Examples include entering English-speaking pupils into “English, for speakers of other languages” qualifications, entering pupils for exams the school considers easier and removing pupils through “off rolling”.

Off-rolling is when a school removes a pupil from its roll without a formal, permanent exclusion or encourages a parent to remove them. This is often done to artificially boost its performance in league tables.

The report found more than 20,000 pupil movements between Year 10 and 11 over the 2017-18 period but could not find the destination of about half of those children.

Other tell-tale signs of “gaming” include pupils having very different GCSE results in English Literature compared to Language, which indicates the school has focused on teaching just one of those subjects.

Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman said that although the overall picture was good, disadvantaged children deserved a “proper, substantial and broad education”.

Speaking at the report’s launch in Westminster, she said grades were “hollow” if they did not reflect a proper education, adding: “We mustn’t succumb to the seductive but wrong-headed logic that we help disadvantaged children by turning a blind eye to schools that narrow education in this way, as long as they deliver acceptable grades at the end.

“All of them should have the chance to develop their talents. Poorer children shouldn’t get a worse choice.”

Ofsted introduced a new inspection regime last September, which focuses more on the quality of the curriculum and education on offer.

Ms Spielman added: “Exam results are important but have to reflect real achievement. We should not incentivise apparent success without substance.”

Ofsted said most schools act in the best interest of the children but a “small minority” do not.

It comes as this newspaper launched a £1 million campaign to reduce exclusions in London schools where rates are higher than the national average.