By Gavin Mackintosh-
The Department for Education has today announced that most GCSE and A-level exams will take place three weeks later than usual in 2021, to give pupils more time to prepare.
The Prime Minister and Education Secretary, who have both discussed the matter of exams, have concluded that exams will go ahead, as ”they are the fairest and most accurate way to measure a pupil’s attainment”
Apart from one English and one maths GCSE exam which will still take place before May half term , the Department said it all efforts have bee made to help manage potential disruption”.
The Department Of Education also said that a £1 billion Covid catch up fund will help to tackle the impact of lost teaching time. The programme includes a £650 million catch up premium to help schools support all pupils and £350 million National Tutoring Programme for disadvantaged students.
It is expected that for the majority of vocational and technical qualifications that are taken alongside or instead of GCSEs, AS and A levels, awarding organisations will look to align timetables with 2021 exams
Results
The results for A-levels will be August 24 and GCSE results day will be August 27. The Department Of Education said that no further content changes will be made beyond what has already been announced.
The Education Secretary has today written to Ofqual to ask the regulator to work closely with him, school and further education leaders, exam boards, unions and the higher education sector to develop these arrangements.
The Government said it will engage widely with the sector over the next six weeks to identify any risks to exams at a national, local, and individual student level, and consider measures needed to address any potential disruption. This could be a student unable to sit exams due to illness or self-isolation, or schools affected by a local outbreak during the examination season meaning centres cannot open.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson (pictured)said:
The DfE added that “no further subject-level changes to exams and assessments will be made for GCSEs, AS and A-levels” beyond what was set out by Ofqual in August.
Fairness to pupils is my priority, and will continue to be at the forefront of every decision we take in the lead up to exams next summer. Exams are the fairest way of judging a student’s performance so they will go ahead, underpinned by contingency measures developed in partnership with the sector.
Students have experienced considerable disruption and it’s right we give them, and their teachers, the certainty that exams will go ahead and more time to prepare.
Combined with our £1 billion catch-up programme and the changes proposed by Ofqual to free up teaching time, the changes I am announcing today give young people the best chance of being ready for their exams without undermining the value of the qualifications they receive.
I will continue to work closely with stakeholders and I’m grateful for the commitment and willingness that’s been shown in delivering this additional time t
Education secretary Gavin Williamson said:
However, the DfE said today that its engagement exercise with the sector would last for six weeks, meaning schools could be facing a long wait to hear what other contingency plans are to be put in place.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the ASCL school leadership union, said he was “dismayed” by the announcement, and said delaying the start if exams would be “of marginal benefit when compared to the loss of learning from the national lockdown and ongoing disruption”.
“It has taken the government an eternity to reach a very inadequate response to the scale of the challenge which lies ahead for students who are taking GCSEs and A-levels next year.”
Paul Whiteman, the leader of the NAHT, added: “Having started this discussion in July, it is disappointing it has taken this long to get to this point when there are so many more decisions to be made