Exams bill 'hits £380m a year'

Heads say schools have had no extra cash to cover exam bills

Head teachers say secondary schools in England and Wales now spend £380m a year on exams.

The bill in a typical, 900-student 11 to 16 school is £50,000, and £130,000 for a school with a sixth form.

That covers the fees, administration and invigilation of external exams, the Secondary Heads Association said.

It has renewed its call for more use to be made of in-house marking by specialist teachers, or "chartered examiners".

'Professional judgement'

The union's new president, Tim Andrew, head of Chesham High School in Buckinghamshire, said the present exam regime in schools was "out of control".

He said: "The government should put more faith in the professional judgement of teachers by using in-course assessment as a major component of external examination grades."

These proposals offer the best way to reduce the massive load of examinations for young people John Dunford Secondary Heads Association

The idea was received favourably in the interim report from Mike Tomlinson's working party on 14 to 19 education in England.

That is due to publish its final recommendations, involving a four-part diploma system, next month.

Pending that, a spokesperson for the Department for Education and Skills said: "We recognise the current concerns about the nature and volume of existing assessment systems."

The SHA's general secretary, John Dunford, says the internal assessment model could be used throughout the UK.

He said the union recognised this would have to be done in a way that maintained public confidence in students' qualifications.

But he said having chartered examiners would improve the reliability of examination grades, raise the status of teachers and contribute to higher standards in schools and colleges.

"Most importantly, these proposals offer the best way to reduce the massive load of examinations for young people," he said.

The estimated total of £380m a year was "damning evidence of the bloated examinations system" - and secondary schools and colleges had not received "a penny extra" to reflect the rise in examination costs in recent years.

A large sixth form college in Hampshire spent £325,000 on examination fees, invigilation, photocopying and postage.

There were two full-time and one part-time support staff solely for examinations work.