- Exams to go ahead this summer as the best and fairest form of
assessment
- Information published to focus students’ revision following
disruption to learning during the pandemic
- Part of several adaptations to GCSEs, AS and A levels to
recognise the impact of Covid
Students will have access to information from today (7 February)
to help focus their revision for summer GCSE, AS and A level
exams, as part of a range of adaptations to maximise fairness
following the disruption to learning caused by the
pandemic.
Some of the exam content, texts, topics and sub-topics, themes
and skills due to be assessed have been made available for the
majority of GCSE, AS and A level subjects, including maths,
biology, chemistry and languages.
The additional information aims to focus students’ revision
without providing exact questions that will appear.
Advanced sight of the content is one part of the adaptations in
place to help mitigate the impact of the pandemic on education,
recognising this cohort of students were affected by school
closures during periods of lockdown and disruption due to
absences. Other adaptations include a choice of topics in some
GCSEs like English literature and history, and support
materials like formulae sheets in maths.
Exams and formal assessments will go ahead as planned this
summer. More than 500,000 exam entries for vocational and
technical qualifications (VTQs) successfully took place in
January, giving confidence in the exams system.
Education Secretary, said:
“Exams are the best and fairest form of assessment, and we firmly
intend for them to take place this summer, giving students a fair
chance to show what they know.
“We know students have faced challenges during the pandemic,
which is why we’ve put fairness for them at the forefront of our
plans. The information to help with their revision published
today, as well as the range of other adaptations, will make sure
they can do themselves justice in their exams this summer.”
Ofqual Chief Regulator Dr Jo Saxton said:
“Students have shown so much resilience during the pandemic and
we know that they are seeking certainty. Advance information
published today is one of the ways we are supporting students to
have that certainty as they prepare to show what they know and
can do.
“We are also ensuring there is a safety-net for students with a
generous approach to grading.”
A common set of principles has been developed for the advance
information, for example avoiding providing so much detail that
answers could be pre-prepared and memorised, but the information
will look different for each subject and exam board, reflecting
the nature of those subjects and their assessments.
Students will also benefit from other adaptations to exams and
the approach to grading this year to mitigate the impact of the
pandemic on their education.
There will also be choices of topics or content in GCSE English
literature, history, ancient history and geography, and a
formulae or expanded equations sheet available in exams for GCSE
maths, physics and combined science. There are also changes to
the requirements for practical assessments in sciences and art
and design, recognising how the pandemic will have affected
students’ opportunities in these subjects.
Ofqual's plan for grading being more generous recognises the
challenges these students have faced.
Ofqual wants to get back to normal grading but over a two-year
period. This summer will be a transition year, to be fair to this
year's students. Examiners will be asked to be more generous when
setting grade boundaries, to provide a safety net for students
who might otherwise just miss out on a higher grade.
The Government is fully committed to exams going ahead this
summer, and does not expect that to change except in the very
unlikely case of a public health emergency which would prevent
students being able to physically sit exams. GCSE,
AS and A level exams for each subject have also been spread out
to maximise the opportunity for students to sit exams this year.
