Examinations 2020: What’s Going On?
Introduction
We are currently living in the midst of a global pandemic, an unprecedented time certainly the likes of which I’ve never seen and it’s affected every sphere of society, including education with GCSEs, A-Levels and other public examinations being cancelled.
Rightly so, it would not be feasible or safe for examinations to go ahead and there is no doubt that social distancing measures have been saving lives and helping to protect the NHS from being overwhelmed.
So with examinations being cancelled what has the Government put in place instead?
Teachers assesments
The government published guidance in March which has since been further updated stating that Students taking GCSEs and A-Levels this year will receive a calculated grade that will be their formal grade. This calculated grade will be derived from Teachers assessments.
So this begs the question what do teacher assessments consist of?
This has been defined as any class or homework assignments and mock exams, as well as any other records of their performance over the course of study. Along with this Teachers will also have to rank Students for each grade in every subject. Then Ofqual (the exam regulator) will look at how a school has done previously and make adjustments. This means that Students on and around the border of a grade can be pushed down if ofqual deem the school or college is being too generous.
If the Student feels this calculated grade is not a fair representation of of their performance they will be able to appeal this, however it currently looks like they will not be able to appeal the grade itself, but rather appeal if the center has followed the correct process in arriving at the grade. How Ofqual intends to deal with this as of writing, has not yet been published. Secondly and I feel more importantly if a Student isn’t happy with their grade the guidance states that they will have the opportunity to sit exams in the Autumn of course this will be subject to what happens with the pandemic. Schools do not need to submit these grades before the 29th May 2020.
Since this initial publication myself and a number of parents and Students I’ve been speaking to are understandably very concerned that this process will not be fair for all Students and with many of them having university, college and sixth form places on the line how will this be addressed?
I’ve outlined some of my concerns below and how these have been addressed in the Department for Education and ofqual’s guidance and frequently asked questions which you can access here
1. Students from a lower socio-economic backgrounds can receive lower grades
One of my major concerns was for Students that would have otherwise performed very well in their GCSEs or A-Levels may be marked down because their performance doesn’t fit the academic profile of their school and a Student going to a more prestigious school. The Student at the more affluent school could be performing well academically working at the same level or even below, this Student will not have this issue to deal with and will be marked higher.
The literature states that Ofqual is developing fair and robust processes that take into account a broad range of evidence. Ofqual ran a consultation process from the 15th-29th April where a number of organisations with a vested interest in this area were able to express their concerns that many Students could be negatively impacted by these measures. The responses from the consultation will be published imminently.
According to the guidance Students that are not happy with their grade will have the opportunity to sit exams in the Autumn.
2. How are universities going to be able to make selections on who gets their limited spaces fairly, as typically institutions make more offers than they have spaces because they know some Students will not achieve the grade during examinations?
The guidance states that schools will not simply give Students the predicted grades entered in their UCAS applications, the Center assessment grade will be their teacher’s estimation of the Students performance if the exams had gone ahead, so it’s supposed to be a reflection of the academic trajectory they were on.
These Center assessment grades will be treated as official results, so universities will be able to make offers based on these assessment grades, these results will be released as normal on results day in August. In the meantime the guidance states that universities should not be making new unconditional offers and Students should feel no pressure to accept offers as they will be awarded a center assessment grade in the summer.
Those holding unconditional offers, will experience no changes unconditional means that the Student has already met the requirements so the place is secure if the Student wants it.
3.What about Students that are Studying independently, for example Students retaking or Adult Learners?
There seems to be more a grey area around these Students, the guidance states that If the Headteacher or Principle, along with their staff have seen enough evidence of the Student’s achievement to be able to determine a center assessment grade. However it also states that some Centers will not be in a position to be able to provide sufficient evidence for some Students and therefore will not be able to provide a Center grade for these Students, these Students will have to take their exams in 2021.
Moving Forward
There are many other things to consider, it’s definitely a difficult situation for all involved especially Students. There are many organisations involved in ensuring that in these unprecedented times the impact to young people’s futures are minimised and young people will not be disadvantaged through no fault of their own. This a difficult task and Department for Education and Ofqual will need their measures scrutinised.
Comments
Comments are closed.