At the end of Primary 6, students in Singapore schools take a national examination, the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE). Society at large view the PSLE as a highstakes examination. In addition to out-of-class work assigned by mathematics teachers for students to prepare for the PSLE mathematics, parents may also draw on out-ofschool…

The role and significance of schooling in maintaining and renewing social disadvantage is particularly evident in upper secondary education, and especially so in the high-stakes final examination at the end of Year 12. This paper focusses on Senior English in this context, with specific regard to the Australian state of New South Wales. Building…

High-stakes testing is meant to create a positive washback effect on student learning. Performance funding can raise stakes. However, it is not often used, and its washback is uncertain. The purpose of this paper is to examine performance-funding programs based on students' exam results. We study principals' perceptions and interpretations of how…

How do examiners reach joint decisions when they grade oral examinations? While government and policymakers provide general frameworks about grading decisions, we know little about how they are actually accomplished in interaction, particularly when examiners initially disagree. We scrutinized 29 video-recorded grading conversations between…

This paper examines the reactions of English pupils who were preparing for GCSE and A-Level examinations to the 2020 exam cancellations resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. In doing so, it addresses a gap in international research related to high stakes testing by presenting pupils' perspectives. It uses a Bourdieusian framework to explore the…

This article provides a detailed review of the Computer-based English Listening Speaking Test (CELST) used in Guangdong, China, as part of the National Matriculation English Test (NMET) to assess students' English proficiency. The CELST measures listening and speaking skills as outlined in the "English Curriculum for Senior Middle…

This article draws upon Roland Barthes' theory of "myth" to unpack how "student progress" is conceptualised and measured in the curriculum and assessment of GCSE English in secondary schools in England. Using case studies of three Year 11 students, I critique aspects of the government's Progress 8 accountability measure, their…

Postcolonial studies have long identified history curriculum as a site of empire building. High stakes exams like the Global History Regents Exam in New York (NYGHR) undoubtedly impact curriculum but have yet to be examined through a postcolonial lens. This study evaluates to what extent, if at all, the NYGHR perpetuates eurocentrism as defined by…

This paper explores GCSE English re-sits in post-16 education. The re-sit policy was introduced in England and Wales to improve national literacy rates, yet persistently poor pass rates have drawn robust criticism of the policy. This article argues that traditional discourses of literacy predominate and contribute towards antagonisms between…

In 2005 the Hungarian school-leaving examination system underwent a significant transformation. In case of history the aim was to give a greater role to the development of students' knowledge acquisition and source analysis skills by more focusing on students' work with historical sources in classes. However, it was clear that the achievement of…

At the 2016 Commission in Birmingham, I reported on a Quality Music Education Framework that Dr Emily Wilson and I had developed for the Victorian Department of Education, which was to become a framework for the delivery of "quality" music education across the State of Victoria for the school years, Foundation to Year 10. In this address…

The Cambridge Digital Mocks Service offers on-screen assessments created by transferring paper-based (PB) exams into a digital test platform. This feasibility project considered the validity of extending the Digital Mocks Service to maths and science qualifications, thinking about (1) the outcomes that are likely when maths and science items are…

This sequential mixed-methods study investigates washback on learning in a high-stakes school exit examination by examining learner perceptions and reported behaviours in relation to learners' beliefs and language learning experience, the role of other stakeholders in the washback mechanism, and socio-educational forces. The focus is the graded…

Variability in education systems is a given. Variability has at once positive and negative implications for the main goal of education which is accelerating learning across diverse contexts and for all learners. In this article, we explain and employ a tight-loose framing to understand the scope for variability within an education system. A…

A substantial body of research suggests that young people's emotions -- both positive and negative -- are linked to a wide range of future outcomes. This paper contributes to this literature by investigating the link between young people's positive and negative emotions and their performance in high-stakes examinations. Using Programme for…