Newslink December

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mess after exams go wrong (parents)
– who are all happy to ditch exams as
teacher assessment works better.
Now we all know why this research
has been conducted: Covid-19, and its
likely impact on GCSE/A level results in
2021. Few pupils in the state sector are
going to approach these exams with
enthusiasm, knowing they have lost as
much as a third of their tuition time and
will have barely covered the syllabus by
the time June ’21 rolls round. Because of
the extreme situation in which we’re
living, really out-of-the-box thinking is
going on within the education sector as
everyone looks to avoid a repeat of this
summer’s exam farce.
But once this leftfield thinking gets out
of the box, it’s hard to push it back in.
Rather like the switch from being office
based to working from home, the mood
music is that changes that take place
because of the pandemic will survive
long after we’ve said goodbye to
Covid-19 (if we ever do, of course).
So if we are confronting a new dawn of
no exams and a reliance on teacher
assessments, why can’t that philosophy
be extended from the school classroom
to the driving school car, and to ADIs and
pupils? Why couldn’t an ADI sign off a
pupil’s driving licence, as they are
‘‘
A host of industries set their own
standards and issue qualifications
without the Government feeling
it has to get involved...
suggesting a maths teacher will be able
to sign off a GCSE next summer?
Think of the advantages. First, no
waiting lists. ADIs would simply apply
the standards as set out by the DVSA
and record progress accordingly. SEs
could have greater oversight by ‘dropping
in’ on lessons from time to time,
checking that the ability as certified by
the ADI at that moment was correct. In
other words, keeping a close eye on the
ADI’s ability to correctly assess their
pupils’ ability.
Before a ‘check lesson’ the SE could be
presented with the pupil’s progress chart,
and the SE would then assess whether
the ADI was accurate in his or her view
on the pupil’s standard at that point.
By continually checking up on ADIs a
few times a year the DVSA would
generate a database on each ADI and
know those who are able to accurately
assess pupils at different stages of their
leaning to drive journeys. No need for
L-tests; just continually assess, and once
the agreed standard has been reached, a
driving licence is handed out by the ADI.
Not only no more waiting lists, but no
more DTCs, either. Think of the cash that
would save the DVSA! Instead, total trust
is placed in the hands of the ADI. Would
you allow this pupil to drive
unaccompanied on the roads? Yes? In
that case, we believe you. You are the
professional; your judgement is
paramount.
Far fetched? Yes, undoubtedly. Likely
to happen? No, not a chance, sadly.
When you consider that the DVSA wakes
up screaming at the thought of an ADI
being given the authority to say a pupil
had reached a proficient standard at
doing something like turning a car
around in the road and recording it in a
logbook, it’s pretty unlikely that it will
leap from the current system to a
no-holds barred one of ADI assessment.
But if the UK as a whole starts to
tiptoe down a path of greater reliance on
teachers’ views in schools, why can
some of this new thinking not be applied
to learning to drive?
It’s not even as if a system of internal
assessment such as the one outlined
here is not used elsewhere. A host of
industries set their own standards and
then send candidates off clutching official
certificates without the Government
feeling it has to get involved, from
football coaches and swimming
instructors through to industrial expertise
as displayed by gas engineers.
Why couldn’t ADIs join this illustrious
band in some capacity?
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