There has been a significant procedural step forward in the claim being brought by the group of schools, pupils and local authorities regarding English GCSE grade boundaries. The claimants are still awaiting permission to seek judicial review but a Judge has ordered that, should this permission be granted, then the hearing will take place 'immediately'.
The news that the claim will be dealt with urgently was good news for the claimants and teaching unions. Frequently judicial review cases take many months to be listed for a full hearing, often up to a year from the commencement of the claim.
England’s exam regulator Ofqual final report on the saga last week concluded that teachers had been generous in marking of modular controlled assessments, causing many bruises amongst the teaching profession. Schools will now hopefully be able to see whether the court’s analysis of the case offers another explanation (perhaps one which holds Ofqual and the exam board to account) while such bruises are relatively fresh.