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NEWS


Figures hint at scale of false allegations



Last year the NASUWT gave evidence to the House of Commons on the issue of false allegations. For a copy of the evidence, go online: www.nasuwt.org.uk/FalseAllegations.


Exam timetable reversed

Following contact from the NASUWT, a decision to alter the 2011 examination timetable has been reversed.

The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), which co-ordinates the work of awarding bodies, had planned to publish A level, GCSE and level 1, 2 and 3 results a week earlier than normal, which would have potentially inconvenienced thousands of teachers and headteachers.

The NASUWT warned the JCQ that many teachers and headteachers would be likely to be away on holiday on the new results days and would not be able to be in schools and colleges when the results are published.

Bringing the publication of results forward by a week would also have meant the start of the examination period being brought forward.

The Union pointed out that this would have meant that for some schools, examinations could have started as soon as five working days after the start of the summer term due to the relatively late timing of Easter in 2011. This would have constrained the time available to schools to complete the teaching of examination syllabuses and increased the risk of some schools attempting to hold additional teaching periods outside of the normal timetable.

The NASUWT argued that it would not accept any measures that would lead to increases in teacher or headteacher workload or working hours and as a result of its representations, the JCQ backed down and agreed to revert to the traditional examination timetable for 2011.

This means that A level and level 3 results will be released on 18 August, with GCSE and level 1 and 2 grades published on 25 August.