The government is set to launch a trial in SATs as part of a bid to cut costs and workloads from schools, as part of a push to “harness the power of AI.” Standardised tests for moderators will include questions written by AI under the trial. The Standards and Testing Agency (STA) will be conducting the pilot as it hopes to “harness the power of AI technology across the sector.”
Key stage 2 moderators are required to pass a standardisation exercise, ensuring they have the “required knowledge” to examine English writing teacher assessments. Unlike maths and reading, SATs, English writing is marked by teachers. Local authorities are required to moderate only a quarter of maintained schools and academy papers.
But the moderators are required to undergo one of three standardisation tests to be approved. The third test will be generated using AI. The pilot will aim to “explore whether large language models (LLMs) can help overcome ongoing challenges with standardisation exercise production, including sourcing sufficient scripts from schools and reducing associated costs,” according to the government.
Australia’s Council for Educational Research has created the exercises since 2021-22 using real samples from year 6 children’s work. But “collecting suitable pupil writing samples is expensive and adds extra work for schools,” the Department for Education said.
The trial will follow “18 months of research [into] how effectively LLMs can generate scripts that are representative of the work and ability of year 6 pupils.” To generate the AI tests, STA’s “expert assessment researcher will design prompts” based on the teacher assessment framework to “generate draft pupil scripts.” It will then “edit and carefully review” ensuring that “they meet our standards for accuracy, validity and reliability” before they are used in the test.
Local authorities can “opt out of participating” if they have concerns about “the use of LLMs in the creation of the materials,” with their moderators sitting the other exercises instead.
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