Teachers will grade A-level and GCSE exams cancelled by pandemic

02 March 2021

Ofqual has confirmed that GCSEs and A-levels cancelled in England by the pandemic will be replaced by grades decided by teachers, using a combination of mock exams, coursework and essays. We at Marshall Minibus are always interested in the latest news about schools and education, and trust that you find this information useful.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted, “No child should be left behind as a result of learning lost during the pandemic. That’s why students will receive grades awarded and determined by teachers.

“This fair and flexible system will ensure all young people can progress to the next stage of their education or career”.

The move comes after thousands of A-level students were awarded lower results than predicted by an algorithm last year, before Ofqual announced that grades would be awarded based on teachers’ predictions instead.

The Education Policy Institute (EPI) has responded to the government’s plans for 2021 grades, commenting that “there is still a very high risk that we will see inconsistences in the grades among different pupils and schools. Without timely and detailed guidance for schools on how this year’s grades should be benchmarked against previous years, and with classroom assessments only being optional, there is a significant risk that schools will take very different approaches to grading.

“This could result in large numbers of pupils appealing their grades this year or extremely high grade inflation, which could be of little value to colleges, universities, employers and young people themselves.”

Ofqual has recognised that the decision to award grades based upon teacher’s predictions will mean that students receive results which are “more generous than previous years”, as was the case in summer 2020.

In their ‘Grading GCSEs, AS and A levels in 2021’ report, Ofqual recognises that “the likely result is that students will not need to demonstrate the same level of knowledge as in previous years to get a particular grade. In general, students in 2021 will have as much chance of getting a grade A or a grade 4 as they did in 2020”.

Ofqual said that this generosity is due to “disruption and lost learning at an overall, national level”.

Schools minister Nick Gibb, when asked whether he accepted grades would be inflated this year, told BBC Breakfast the government had put in place "different checking mechanisms" to ensure there was "consistency".

What you need to know about Grading GCSEs, AS and A levels in 2021

The grading system

The grading system be based upon teacher’s predictions and schools will be allowed to decide on the evidence used to make this judgement. This might include mock exam results or coursework.

If students are unhappy with their results, they can appeal the decision. A-level results day will be August 10 2021 and GCSE results will be given on August 12, to allow time for students to make an appeal if they wish to do so.

Schools minister Nick Gibb has assured students that those awaiting the result of an appeal before being granted a place at University will be prioritised.

Exam boards will set test papers for each subject, which are optional for schools to use and are intended to help teachers with their predictions but will not decide final grades. Schools will also receive question papers before the Easter holidays which are also optional to use.

Schools will be required to submit grades to exam boards before June 18 2021.

Ensuring fairness and consistency

There will be no fixed share of grades and schools will not be expected to keep in line with results from previous years. Instead, exam boards will provide schools with detailed information about grading and will be expected to ensure consistency between teachers.

Exam boards will check carry out random checks and investigate any unusual results. Where such results occur, exam boards will be able to change grades.

Concluding the ‘Grading GCSEs, AS and A levels in 2021’ report, Ofqual said “Any decision about the approach to 2021 has implications beyond 2021. The effect of the pandemic is likely to be ongoing - but diminishing, we hope - and so there could well be a case made by students preparing to take exams in 2022 that they should be afforded the same level of generosity as their peers in 2021”