Commenting on proposals for exams and assessments in 2022
presented by the Department for Education and Ofqual ahead of
consultation, Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the
National Education Union, said:
"With grim predictability, the Government is launching a short
consultation in the dead of summer on an absolutely vital issue -
this time on exams for next summer. As we warned last week, this
is already far too late. September 1st is the latest date by
which we should be receiving all the necessary information about
qualifications in 2022.
"This whole situation is highly disrespectful to school students,
teachers and school leaders who have given so much this past year
and who have only ever wanted clarity to carry out their job and
their studies. This consultation is unlikely to provide
definitive answers ahead of the new term starting in September.
At best it will be a partial picture of arrangements.
"Last autumn the Government was in a long period of denial that a
Plan B should even be required for 2021 examinations. This was
incredibly unfair to students, who have been remarkably stoical
in such difficult circumstances. Teachers were left to pick up
the pieces, and they have handled the grading procedure foisted
upon them admirably well. That this latest consultation does not
consider contingency plans is alarming, and points to a
Government addicted either to mistakes or u-turns. It is
sometimes hard to tell which."
