Data Release is at the bottom of the page – scroll down if you know the background and want to jump straight to the info.
I noticed today that @kennygfrederick was tweeting information she’d received via an FOI request about the report CapGemini wrote for Ofqual in the aftermath of this summer’s GCSE Fiasco. Ofqual commissioned CapGemini to complete 100 interviews with heads/teachers about the discrepancy between their expected and actual scores so that Ofqual could ‘better understand’ the public outcry. After receiving over £140k to carry out the interviews, CapGemini’s findings were indeed used in Ofqual’s final report but the information was presented in a 3-page sparse summary in the Appendix. Sceptical that the full report from CapGemini was not released, headteacher Geoff Barton also demonstrated in several blogs how the summary didn’t dovetail with the experiences of people he knew who had been interview (see here and here for starters, though there are many more on his website).
Unsatisfied, Kenny Frederick – also a secondary school headteacher – requested via an Ofqual FOI to see the report CapGemini were contracted to provide. Her request was denied and she was told that beyond the information included in the Appendix: “There is no ‘other’ CapGemini report to release”
Undeterred Kenny asked again for (a) the correspondence between Ofqual and CapGemini, and (b) any notes/information that CapGemini had provided Ofqual about their interviews. This she got (albeit with the usual caveats and redactions). To Ofqual’s credit, there is a LOT of stuff in this release and their redactions seem fair. Their willingness to be transparent when requested should be appreciated and commended. Yes, the FOI is the law, and it is therefore a citizen’s right to request and get this information, but I still think this release shows professionalism and a willingness to be transparent, unlike some other parts of government.
SO WHAT DOES THE DATA SHOW?
Did Ofqual use CapGemini’s information correctly? Well, you can see for yourself. Kenny very kindly sent over the information and has said it can be put here for wider viewing though I must stress that it was her tenacity that brings this information to light. The spreadsheet of notes about interviews at the schools is really quite difficult to read due to size of the text, but I reckon this is where the good stuff is. Also note that the documents are quite large so they may take some time to download.
1. Letter responding to Kenny’s request and explaining the redactions
2. Spreadsheet of notes from interviews with schools (text is small – zoom needed!)
3. Correspondence between Ofqual & CapGemini Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7
Please do share any findings, it’s going to take a number of eyes to figure out this lot!