Our consultation on the
exceptional arrangements we have put in place for awarding
GCSEs, AS and A levels this summer closed on 29
April. We are grateful for the 12,500 plus responses we
have received from teachers, teacher representative groups
and unions, university or higher education institutions,
parents, carers and students; we are taking these into
account when finalising our plans.
To give students, schools and colleges certainty at the
earliest opportunity, we have prioritised
our analysis and
decisions on 2 proposals about who should receive a
calculated grade.
Calculated grades for students in year 10 and below
In line with our consultation proposal, we have decided
that students entered for exams in year 10 and below will
be eligible to receive calculated grades this summer. This
follows the majority of responses received, which indicate
that the progression of some students would be disrupted if
they were not awarded a grade this summer, and to exclude
them would have an unfair impact. Amongst the responses we
received were concerns about the potential impact of
excluding early entrants on disabled students or those with
special educational needs, who might wish to spread their
GCSE exams over different years.
Private candidates
There was broad support for our proposal to only allow exam
boards to issue results for private candidates for whom the
Head of Centre is confident they can submit a centre
assessment grade and include them in the centre’s rank
order. The majority of respondents considered this
necessary for the fairness and integrity of the approach.
Most of those who disagreed were students who are private
candidates themselves and their parents or carers.
We have worked with exam boards to explore options for
private candidates to receive grades this summer. Last
week, the boards set out new guidance, and
we published an update
to our Information document, about the alternative
sources of evidence a school or college might consider
where it does not have sufficient evidence about a
student’s attainment to submit a centre assessment grade
and rank order information. It also confirms that some
students may transfer to another centre ahead of the
grading process if the centre where they had registered
decides it cannot submit a centre assessment grade. In this
case, some other centres may be able to work with private
candidates who need a grade this summer in order to
progress. So that the grading process is fair, the Head of
Centre must have the same level of confidence in the grade
and rank order position as for all other students when
providing information to the exam board.
We said in our consultation decision document that we could
not identify any reliable way to calculate grades for
private candidates who could not be included within a
centre’s cohort of students. No workable possibilities were
advanced by respondents to the consultation and we have
decided that private candidates can be included only
through centres.
We are continuing to analyse consultation responses on our
other proposals for awarding GCSEs, AS/A levels, Extended
Project Qualification and Advanced Extension Award in maths
this summer; we will publish final decisions later in May.
Separately, our consultation on
arrangements for awarding vocational, technical and other
general qualifications, including proposals for early
entrants and private candidates in these qualifications,
remains open until Friday 8 May.
