School leaders’ union NAHT is urging the government to review
plans to ensure that exams this year are fair to all GCSE and
A-Level students.
The disruption students have faced throughout their exam courses
due to Covid – and in particular the recent heightened disruption
due to the Omicron variant over winter – has left students with
potentially quite big differences in how much they have been able
to learn and prepare for their exams.
While the government has put adaptations in place, these may not
be sufficient – especially given that they were drafted prior to
the emergence of this variant. Students and school leaders alike
are feeling that more needs to be done to reassure everyone that
exams will be fair.
Paul Whiteman, NAHT general secretary, said: “The government has
made it clear that it intends for exams to go ahead. But there
needs to be more recognition that some students could be
disadvantaged by the gaps in their learning due to Covid
disruption – through no fault of their own or of their schools’.
“If the government doesn’t do more to acknowledge this, trust in
the fairness of the examination process will falter.
“While some students have no doubt thrived, there are many –
particularly from groups with fewer advantages than most – who
have struggled. While school leaders have worked tirelessly to
let their students know that they have their back, some students
feel that that no-one outside their school cares about the impact
the pandemic has had on their learning and development.”
Sarah Hannafin, Senior Policy Advisor for NAHT, said: “We believe
the government can and should do more.
“There needs to be a greater consideration of how the pandemic
has affected learning and teaching this year – especially over
the past few months. We’re calling for the government to review
the adaptations to exams that are already planned to ensure they
go far enough to properly address the impact of the current
circumstances which schools, teachers and students find
themselves in.
“Advance notice information should be published as soon as
possible – no need to wait until February 7th – to
give teachers and students more information which may help them
to plan learning and revision in the remaining time available.
Communications around the announcement will be vital,
particularly to address the variation in the information being
provided for different subjects and uncertainty about the impact
of it for lower ability students.
“Levels of staff and pupil absence are putting huge pressure on
students in exam years and, despite the planned adaptations, we
are hearing more and more questions being raised about the
fairness of going ahead with exams. If they do go ahead, the
decision to publish performance data this year must be reversed –
that data would simply be a reflection of the impact of the
pandemic on students and schools, not fit for the purposes of
accountability.”
