Commenting on the Education Policy Institute’s recommendations
for GCSEs and A-levels in England in 2021, Geoff Barton, General
Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said:
“We agree with the EPI’s recommendations over next summer’s
exams, and indeed, we have ourselves made a number of similar
proposals to the government and the exam regulator Ofqual.
“Unfortunately, we can detect no sense of urgency by either the
government or the exam regulator to put in place any meaningful
measures to make next summer’s exams fairer, or decide a back-up
plan if things go wrong.
“So far, they have slightly tweaked the content of the exams and
delayed the start date by three weeks to allow for more teaching
time, and they continue to talk about a Plan B without actually
announcing one.
“It is important that the public understands how minor these
measures are in comparison to the disruption to education which
has taken place already because of the Covid pandemic and
continues to do so as students have to intermittently
self-isolate.
“The continuing lack of a back-up plan is particularly worrying
because any form of assessment which would provide a contingency
option if students are unable to take exams has to take place in
a rapidly diminishing window of time in which this could happen.
“Students, parents, schools and colleges all need certainty about
what the plan is for next summer’s GCSEs and A-levels and they
need it now.”
