By Gavin Mackintosh-
UK students will have access to information from today to help focus their revision for summer GCSE, AS and A level exams, as part of a range of adaptations to maximize fairness following the disruption to learning caused by the pandemic.
Some of the exam content, texts, topics and sub-topics, themes and skills due to be assessed have been made available for the majority of GCSE, AS and A level subjects, including maths, biology, chemistry and languages.
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The additional information aims to focus students’ revision without providing exact questions that will appear.
Examiners will also be asked to be more generous than in previous years to account for the disruptions to education triggered by the pandemic.
Advanced sight of the content is one part of the adaptations in place to help mitigate the impact of the pandemic on education, recognizing this cohort of students were affected by school closures during periods of lockdown and disruption due to absences. Other adaptations include a choice of topics in some GCSEs like English literature and history, and support materials like formulae sheets in maths.
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Exams and formal assessments will go ahead as planned this summer. More than 500,000 exam entries for vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs) successfully took place in January, giving confidence in the exams system.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said:
”Exams are the best and fairest form of assessment, and we firmly intend for them to take place this summer, giving students a fair chance to show what they know.
We know students have faced challenges during the pandemic, which is why we’ve put fairness for them at the forefront of our plans. The information to help with their revision published today, as well as the range of other adaptations, will make sure they can do themselves justice in their exams this summer.
The advance information is aimed at cutting the amount of content pupils need to be taught or tested on.
In all subjects apart from English literature, history, ancient history, geography and art and design, pupils will be given notice about the topics to be covered in this summer’s exams.
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The Department for Education said the extra information “aims to focus students’ revision without providing exact questions that will appear”.
It added: “Advanced sight of the content is one part of the adaptations in place to help mitigate the impact of the pandemic on education, recognising this cohort of students were affected by school closures during periods of lockdown and disruption due to absences.
“Other adaptations include a choice of topics in some GCSEs like English literature and history, and support materials like formulae sheets in maths.”
Jo Saxton, chief regulator of exams watchdog Ofqual, said: “Students have shown so much resilience during the pandemic and we know that they are seeking certainty.
“Advance information published today is one of the ways we are supporting students to have that certainty as they prepare to show what they know and can do.
“We are also ensuring there is a safety-net for students with a generous approach to grading.”
Association of School and College Leaders general secretary Geoff Barton said: “It is extremely important that this really does help to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on learning, and we will be studying it in detail to ensure that it provides fairness to students of all ability levels.”
National Education Union joint general secretary Mary Bousted feared the release of advance information “comes too late” for kids.
“There are grave concerns amongst teachers of exam groups that this will not be enough to fairly mitigate the disruption these students have experienced over two academic years,” she added.
Shadow Schools Minister Stephen Morgan claimed children and teachers “have had weeks of needless stress and uncertainty awaiting the information being published today, which for many pupils will feel like scant compensation for months of missed learning and development”.
Exams 2022: All the changes explained from notice of topics to higher grades
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An Ofqual spokesman confirmed there will “be generous grading” this year.
He added: “This will be delivered after marking is complete and when senior examiners set grade boundaries.
“It is likely to mean grade boundaries will be a little lower than they might have been in a normal year, but grade boundaries are never set in advance, and so we cannot be precise at this point in the year.”
Ofqual Chief Regulator Dr Jo Saxton said:
Students have shown so much resilience during the pandemic and we know that they are seeking certainty. Advance information published today is one of the ways we are supporting students to have that certainty as they prepare to show what they know and can do.
We are also ensuring there is a safety-net for students with a generous approach to grading.
A common set of principles has been developed for the advance information, for example avoiding providing so much detail that answers could be pre-prepared and memorised, but the information will look different for each subject and exam board, reflecting the nature of those subjects and their assessments.
Students will also benefit from other adaptations to exams and the approach to grading this year to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on their education.
There will also be choices of topics or content in GCSE English literature, history, ancient history and geography, and a formulae or expanded equations sheet available in exams for GCSE maths, physics and combined science. There are also changes to the requirements for practical assessments in sciences and art and design, recognising how the pandemic will have affected students’ opportunities in these subjects.
Ofqual’s plan for grading being more generous recognises the challenges these students have faced. Ofqual wants to get back to normal grading but over a two-year period. This summer will be a transition year, to be fair to this year’s students. Examiners will be asked to be more generous when setting grade boundaries, to provide a safety net for students who might otherwise just miss out on a higher grade.
The Government is fully committed to exams going ahead this summer, and does not expect that to change except in the very unlikely case of a public health emergency which would prevent students being able to physically sit exams. GCSE, AS and A level exams for each subject have also been spread out to maximise the opportunity for students to sit exams this year.
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