At Mark My Papers (MMP) we are regularly approached by home-educators who are aiming for a place at Oxford or Cambridge or hoping to study Medicine at a UK university. For those who have adopted a self-educating approach, attempting to reach these goals comes with an extra layer of challenge because the entire process of
Emma White writes about recent changes in attitudes to home education which are a very real worry. It has struck me recently that there has been a bit of a change in home-education since the lock down. Covid served as a catalyst for many parents to continue with the pandemic induced shift to home schooling
Ofqual are eager to see GCSE exam grades return to pre-pandemic levels. In the wake of CAG-TAG self-administered grade inflation (2020-2021) some schools have been determined to justify their often over generous marking. A member of the MMP English Language team who has been a Senior Examiner with AQA for over 20 years talks of
On behalf of the team at MMP, sincere congratulations to Ernie Visick for his superb A’ Level results. Educated at home since Year 5, Ernie has worked with immense determination throughout the Pandemic, putting his time to great use to ensure he was ‘match-fit’ for his public exams this summer. An offer from Pembroke College,
Emma White explores why she believes it is so important for A-level and GCSE grades to be ‘reset’ after Covid More than 20 years ago whilst working for a large London insurance company, a CV landed on my desk for a marketing product manager role. Nothing unusual, we received them all the time, and mostly
Facing up to exams early makes all the difference It’s a busy time for us right now at Mark My Papers. With CAIE exams underway and the main GCSEs and A levels starting next week, we have been busy supporting home educators, direct students and schools in the run up to their exams. Every year
Ernie Visick’s parents are the Founder and the Commercial Director of Mark My Papers and are immensely proud that Ernie (pictured right) has been offered a place at Cambridge University where he will join his brother Ossie (pictured left) following a complete reliance on the superb team of Examiners at MMP for assessment and mock
A hybrid system where students are awarded a predicted grade and a real-life grade could be a solution to exams this year, writes Emma White It is less than five months until GCSEs and A-levels take place. An Easter holiday and two half terms stuffed into the mix means time will soon be running out
If universities start to set more of their own tests in order to tell candidates apart, the burden will fall on sixth forms, writes Emma White. After this year’s A-level grade inflation dramas, there have been rumblings that universities will start to introduce a wider range of admissions tests, in order tell one triple A* student from
Time to come up with a different plan perhaps? With July now upon us we are almost (but not quite) at the end of the Centre or Teacher Assessed Grade process. I say not quite because we are still working with schools in the Far East who had a special extended deadline due to their political situation and
This year’s grading process has been unfair and stores up problems for later – but it needn’t be that way next year, writes Emma White… Anyone involved in the run up to the Summer 2021 Centre/Teacher Assessed Grade debacle will remember this year for its confusion, chaos and voluminous workload. For my company Mark My Papers,
Using Centre Assessed Grades for GCSE and A-level will fail the most disadvantaged, writes Emma White in her latest article to be published in Independent School Management Plus. There is something almost comedic about this year’s Centre Assessed Grades. Comedic perhaps, if it were not for that fact that future lives, hopes and dreams of a
Emma White considers why schools often fail to nurture pupils’ love of learning Published in Independent School Management Plus Earlier this year, we received the news we had all been waiting for. My 18-year-old son had been offered a conditional place at Christ’s College, Cambridge to study history and modern languages. An immensely proud moment
Dr. Helen Wright MA(OXON), EDD, PGCE, Chair of the Mark My Papers Board of Advisors writes a fascinating piece considering if vicarious domination of a child’s aspiration leads to disappointment for school, parent and student. I could write at length – we all could – about any number of sub-groups of children and young people
By Yvonne Mason. Yvonne Mason is an historian and freelance English and History teacher and tutor. Having gained a B.A in English Language and Literature, she later gained an M.A in Medieval Studies from Royal Holloway, University of London. In 2001, she established her own practice as a tutor of English and History which has
Amid outcry over Covid-19, the digital divide and cancelled exams, Emma White advocates a tried and tested approach to remote learning; an article published recently in ‘Independent School Management Plus‘ The writing was on the wall from the beginning. Remote learning meant no learning. Not for everyone, of course, but for enough children for it
By Emma White……… When I came to home education six years ago I never considered that zero internet and one shared family laptop between four may be a barrier to success. And looking back – it made no difference. Our results – two boys, 18 GCSES, 15 Grade A*, three Grade A, one AS at
Schools faced with parents threatening to home educate need to know all the arguments against it, writes successful home educator Emma White Since schools returned this autumn, the media has been abuzz with talk of Covid-19 and how schools will create a safe normal for the new academic year. The angst that children and teachers
An article by a Guest Contributor who is one of our most senior examiners with 25 years experience of examining for the public exam boards; a consultant to schools under special measures with the task of improving English Language and Literature performance. The views of Guest Contributors are their own and not necessarily those of
An article by Emma White of MMP and published in ‘Independent School Management Plus’ ‘The demonic crunch of the algorithm’ has helped many see why exams are so vital, writes Emma White. The relentless lurching of this year’s 2020 A Level and GCSE results has done little to enhance the reputation of Ofqual or the