We are the organisers of the Edexcel Protest AMA

Hi everybody,

Our names are Léo and Shurjo. We're two of the six organisers of what is now colloquially known as the Edexcel Protest Group.

We represent all students across the UK and beyond that have been affected by the recent Edexcel A Level Maths debacle. We want to ensure fairness, justice, and transparency from Pearson, and for those reasons, we have been organising a demonstration near Pearson's headquarters.

We want to begin by clearing up and clarifying some things about us:

•

We aren't complaining about the difficulty of the papers. It seems that there is a common misconception that we are simply 'complaining about the difficulty because we found it hard'. We want to assure you that this is not the case. We understand and fully agree with Ofqual's method of using comparable outcomes, and Pearson's method of adjusting grade boundaries accordingly.

•

[b]We don't think giving students predicted grades is a good idea. An article by the BBC in 2016 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-38223432) states that only 16% of students actually achieve their predicted grades. We don't think predicted grades accurately reflect a student's true ability.

•

We don't think resitting the exams are an option. Pearson Edexcel have already stated that they will not be issuing resits for this exam season. We also don't think it's a good idea. Many students might be on holiday, many wouldn't turn up, etc. In light of this information, we think resitting the exam could lead to a very unfair outcome.

•

Our main goal is for Pearson Edexcel to be transparent. Many ask us that if we don't want resits and we don't want predicted grades, what solution do we want? We believe that thus far, there is no best solution. All of the ones being suggested are always going to disadvantage someone in some way. And in fairness, as students, we shouldn't have to be the ones coming up with the solutions. We believe that our demands and pressure from the demonstration should provide as an adequate incentive for Edexcel to lay out their own course of action, and most importantly, keep us updated every step of the way.

Thanks to the pressure from us and all of our supporters, Pearson invited us to meet with them at Pearson HQ. We met with Sharon Hague (head of Pearson's UK Schools business) and several of her colleagues. We are very grateful that they have met with us and we are proud to report that they have been very open and transparent which has helped us clear up a lot of confusion regarding A Level Maths. We have published an official statement on this meeting on our Twitter (@EdexcelP) and we are currently liaising with Pearson to publish our minutes from the meeting. We will ensure our best to get this out as soon as possible.

In the meantime, we would love to answer any questions anyone has regarding this demonstration. We have also attached some helpful documents that Pearson has supplemented us with to share with you.

Useful Documents

Edit: To make it absolutely clear, our protest goals have considerable implications for the present and the future. In the present, we show the scope of student dissent, which can help to better inform Edexcel when they come to the standardisation of the results.

For the future, we ensure more dialogue between Edexcel and students. We are convinced Edexcel has a moral obligation to consider the students which eventually sit their paper. This protest helps achieve both present and future goals

^PLEASE READ THIS IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY THE PROTEST IS GOING ON

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Edit 2: The nature of this discussion and our position in it is continuously changing. We have the above goals in mind for these discussions.
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Ask us anything :smile:

(edited 4 years ago)

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

Nibblet27

How did you end up starting a protest? Students feel aggrieved every year but I've never seen a student protest over an exam board before?

Reply 2

Edexcel Protest

Thanks for reaching out. You're right in saying that students do generally feel aggrieved every year, but this year was particularly different.

There were complaints all round from the entire student body regarding the difficulty of Paper 1 and 2 (that being said, we do acknowledge that complaints about difficulty happen every year). Alongside this, I'm sure you've aware of the leaks for not just Paper 3, but also Paper 2. Many students feel like they have been let down by Pearson Edexcel as this is the third year running where a leak has occured.

Many felt like their voices weren't being heard and that they were being left in the dark. Some were afraid Edexcel would sweep this under the rug and not give it enough attention. In light of all these reasons, we decided to start the protest group.

Great question! ^S

Original post by Nibblet27

How did you end up starting a protest? Students feel aggrieved every year but I've never seen a student protest over an exam board before?

Reply 3

Evil Homer

TSR Community Staff

How did the meeting with Pearson go today? Do you think they are taking the concerns of their students seriously?

Reply 4

Drewski

What have you actually changed?

Reply 5

stoyfan

Original post by Edexcel Protest

•

[b]We don't think giving students predicted grades is a good idea. An article by the BBC in 2016 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-38223432) states that only 16% of actually achieve their predicted grades. We don't think predicted grades accurately reflect a student's true ability.

•

Useful Documents

Ask us anything :smile:

THey become a lot more transparent by posting a youtube video explaining the procedure.

That being said, if you having a meeting them in person, to tell them that they should elaborate on how they are going to ensure that 'each student is not going to be disadvantaged'. Exam boards, such as edexcel, over use this phrase in statements and doesn't really allay concerns about the situation as it is too vague.

Not only that but they could make a youtube that explains how grade boundaries are set since a lot of students don't really understand how the system works.

Reply 6

Edexcel Protest

Hi EH!

(Before I begin, I'd just like to clarify the meeting was yesterday from 4pm to 6pm!)

My colleagues and I equally felt that the meeting was very productive. Pearson were very frank and transparent with us and we feel like they're definitely taking the concerns of their students very, very seriously. We plan on publishing a document very soon which details the discussion we had in the meeting. This will be published ASAP on our website and Twitter! We encourage you to make your own conclusion about the outcome of the meeting and let us know your thoughts!

^S

Original post by Evil Homer

How did the meeting with Pearson go today? Do you think they are taking the concerns of their students seriously?

Reply 7

12KK

Do you think universities need to be made aware of this situation? A lot of students' university offers and therefore their future careers are depending on getting a good grade in Maths, and after this whole shambles (which is purely Edexcel's fault), it isn't really right that uni places may be lost because of this

Reply 8

nintysixthousand

exams get leaked every year, it happened to my sociology A-level last year so whats so different about this one? it seems like this is an issue with all exams not just edexcel. and why are you protesting the solutions they are offering if you cannot come up with your own?

Reply 9

Drewski

Original post by 12KK

Do you honestly think universities won't know? Ffs...

Reply 10

Edexcel Protest

Great question. We've actually already done a lot in terms of making our voices heard. We've set a very important precedent in opening a line of communication between Pearson (and hopefully other exam boards) and students. The persistent pressure from us and the rest of our supporters have already encouraged Pearson to be much more open and transparent than they were in previous years. You should expect to see much more responsiveness from Pearson in the coming weeks.

Aside from that, we have also made Pearson aware of all of your concerns, and they are taking on your feedback. For example, they suggested that they have the possibility to remove two questions from the paper. Many of us didn't agree with this course of action, and we let them know. They are now taking this information on board to help guide their decisions.

Thank you for reaching out! ^S

Original post by Drewski

What have you actually changed?

Reply 11

Edexcel Protest

A very, very good question! We discussed notifying universities in our meeting with Pearson. I am very proud to say that they have accepted our request and will write a statement to universities outlining the context behind this year's examination series, pending Ofqual's approval.

Thank you! ^S

Original post by 12KK

Reply 12

The RAR

I don't know why but I was cringing myself as I was reading through the original post. Exam boards usually deal with this sort of stuff pretty swiftly on their own, there is no need for protests or anything like that. And let's be honest, it's maths, even if some folks saw the paper beforehand is not like they could look up the answer in the textbook, they still need to use their brains just like in exam situations so the papers not being leaked would not have made much of a difference.

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 13

Edexcel Protest

It's a very valid question! Universities might have heard about it in the news but might not know the all of the details and context behind it. Making universities formally aware is a very important step and we think it's great that Pearson are listening to us. ^S

Original post by Drewski

Do you honestly think universities won't know? Ffs...

Reply 14

social_chemist

are you going to record the meeting?

Reply 15

Edexcel Protest

The difference is that this is the third year in a row this has happened with this qualification. It is an issue that all exams face, but the whole point is we want to minimise it, and we want to know what preventative (and contingency) measures exist to stop the leaks. Just to clarify - the two solutions mentioned in the OP weren't offered by Edexcel. They were solutions that were gaining traction on social media as a result of students and parents discussing it. Regardless, as students, we shouldn't need to come up with solutions. We think that the pressure from the demonstration should provide as an incentive for Pearson to deal with this situation appropriately, transparently, and with care. ^S

Original post by nintysixthousand

Reply 16

12KK

So all universities will know and hence take this into account when reviewing students' results?

Original post by Edexcel Protest

Reply 17

Edexcel Protest

It will be a statement to UCAS, which I assume will distribute the statement to all universities. So yes! ^S

Original post by 12KK

So all universities will know and hence take this into account when reviewing students' results?

Reply 18

Edexcel Protest

Hi! The meeting has already taken place. We had initially requested that the meeting be recorded, but Pearson recommended that we take minutes instead. We will be releasing these minutes shortly. ^S

Original post by social_chemist

are you going to record the meeting?