Commenting on AQA’s announcement of a 26% rebate
on exam fees, Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association
of School and College Leaders, said:
“It is completely unacceptable that the rebate on fees for exams
which didn’t take place is so low. Schools and colleges have
taken on the vast majority of the work in assessing their
students following the government’s decision to cancel public
exams. Staff have worked tirelessly in extremely difficult
circumstances to ensure their students are given fair and
accurate grades while the role of the exam boards has been
confined largely to administration and quality assurance. This
rebate should have reflected this division of labour but patently
fails to do so.
“The majority of headteachers we surveyed in June wanted to see a
rebate of 75% or more and they will feel badly let down by this
outcome. To add insult to injury the government expects them to
use this meagre rebate to cover the cost of exam fees for any
students entering the autumn series, effectively recycling the
money back to the exam boards.
“The cost of exam fees is considerable. Our survey found the
average total bill this summer is £116,967 for schools with a
sixth form, and £75,238 for schools without a sixth form. This is
paid out of budgets that have been hammered by the impact of
Covid costs such as lost revenue from lettings, cover for absent
staff, and enhanced cleaning schedules. There has been little
support from the government with these costs and a significant
rebate on exam fees was therefore particularly important.
“We have challenged the exam boards over this matter and we
understand that they have fixed costs. However, we are not
satisfied that enough has been done here to provide a rebate
which reflects the fact that schools and colleges have done the
lion’s share of the work, and we now await the decisions of the
other boards.
“Schools and colleges have been dumped on time and time again
following the cancellation of public exams and the inadequacy of
this rebate simply rubs salt in the wound.”
