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GCSE, AS, A level and VTQ exams and formal assessments in England
will return to near normal arrangements next summer as the
country continues to move on from the pandemic.
Fairness remains at the heart of our approach to exams which is
why there is a transition back to pre-pandemic exam arrangements.
Here’s everything you need to know about Exams in 2023.
What is the latest on Exam arrangements for
2023?
This week, Ofqual confirmed a return
to pre-pandemic grading in 2023, in line with their plans
announced last September.
The Department has confirmed that students will not be provided
with advance information on the focus of exams next summer.
However, students will continue to be provided with support in
GCSE mathematics, physics and combined science in the form of
formulae and equation sheets.
This follows our announcement, with Ofqual, earlier this year
that there would be a return to pre-pandemic arrangements for
non-exam assessment, fieldwork and practical sciences and that
schools and colleges this year will be teaching the full content
of qualifications to students taking exams in 2023.
Ofqual has also confirmed that it does not expect adaptations
previously used to respond to the pandemic to be used in VTQs.
Awarding organisations are required, for VTQs used for similar
purposes, to take account of the approach, including in relation
to grading, used in general qualifications so that students
taking VTQs are not advantaged or disadvantaged in comparison.
Will there still be some support available for students
taking exams next year?
Yes. To acknowledge students may still have experienced a level
of disruption, there will be some support for pupils taking GCSE
exams in 2023 as there were – in the form of formulae and
equation sheets for GCSE mathematics, physics and combined
science.
We are investing nearly £5 billion to support students’ recovery
from the impact of the pandemic, including £1.5 billion for
tutoring programmes and nearly £2bn in direct funding to schools.
We’ve seen more than 2million course starts through the National
Tutoring Programme since 2020, with over 1.7m starts this
academic year in around 80% of schools.
Over the next two years we will ensure that students continue to
have access to high-quality tutoring, through the National Tutoring
Programme and 16-19 Tuition Fund.
When are exams in 2023 happening?
The Joint Council for Qualifications l(JCQ) are consulting on the
exam timetable for next summer, which seeks to maintain some of
the space built into the exam timetable last year between the
first and last exams in the same subject. This spacing was well
received by schools and colleges in 2022 and reduces the chance
of students missing all exams in a subject due to circumstances
such as illness.
Results days will be on 17 August 2023 for AS and A levels and 24
August 2023 for GCSEs.
What else has been announced this week?
The Department and Ofqual
are jointly consulting on guidance to schools and colleges about
gathering assessment evidence to support resilience in the
general qualifications system. The guidance proposes
schools and colleges gather evidence in a way that aligns with
their normal arrangements for preparing students for exams,
helping ensure preparedness should a scenario ever again arise
where it would be unsafe or unfair for students to sit exams.
The Department and Ofqual are both consulting on plans to remove
the expectation that students engage with unfamiliar and abstract
material, such as unfamiliar vocabulary, within modern foreign
language (MFL) GCSE assessments from 2023 onwards. The
Department’s consultation covers the curriculum, while Ofqual’s
covers how it is assessed.
How we’re
making teacher training better and more accessible
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