Commenting on the Government’s arrangements for schools and
colleges to determine GCSE, A Level and equivalent grades for
2021, Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National
Education Union, said:
"It is wrong that education professionals, parents and students
alike have had to wait until now to know how grades will be
determined this summer. They have rightly been demanding clarity,
some certainty and robust contingency planning since the start of
the academic year and options to facilitate these things were
highlighted to government by the NEU.
"This wait, and therefore the anxiety stemming from it, has been
exacerbated by two things. Firstly, for GCSEs and A-Levels, if
government didn’t rely solely on end-of-course exams in order to
give the grade, there would already be some evidence of student
performance ‘in the bank’, as there is for many other
qualifications such as BTECs and Cambridge Nationals. Secondly,
government acted too late. Had there been steps taken at the
start of the academic year to prepare for the eventuality that
exams may not be able to happen, in the way the sector including
the NEU had been calling for, this could have been more easily
resolved.
"Given this late action, in the situation we now find ourselves,
the process laid out by government today is better than the
original consultation proposals and is likely the least worst
option available. It is helpful that government has listened to
the consensus amongst the profession and this process gives
students the best chance at grades which are as fair and
consistent as possible in the circumstances: the NEU and its
members will undoubtedly do everything they can now to make it
work.
"However, there are still question marks over how it is expected
that the extra work necessary to facilitate grading will be dealt
with. Substantial time will need to be set aside for the initial
assessments and gradings and then the internal school moderation
processes; it may well be that extra staff need to be employed to
release teachers for this important work. The steps laid out by
government today rightly require the professional expertise of
school and college staff – they are highly trained professionals
who know their students well and are best placed to make
decisions about their performance. However, they cannot be
expected to simply absorb additional workload. This is another
aspect of the plans which would have worked more easily had
government listened earlier in the academic year and put in place
consistent, robust contingency arrangements for evidencing
student performance.
"In order to make this grading process as successful as possible
Government must outline how schools and colleges will be
supported to ensure staff have the necessary time to engage with
it properly, in a way which does not increase workload.
"It is also important that no student is disadvantaged on the
basis of the qualification they are taking and we will continue
to relay members’ experiences with the process laid out to ensure
government, Ofqual and awarding bodies are facilitating parity
between vocational and technical qualifications, GCSEs and
A-Levels."
