Skip to content
18 April 2026

Tag: A-levels

DfE to cover 2021 autumn exam costs for students and schools

The Department for Education has confirmed it will reimburse schools for the cost of organising autumn exams and covering fees for students unhappy with teacher-assessed grades. The government says that given the “unique circumstances” of Covid, students and families should not have to cover exam entry fees if they decide to sit exams in the […]

Exam changes can’t compensate for Covid hit to disadvantaged pupils, says government

Changes to next year’s exams cannot compensate for pupils’ divided experiences during the pandemic, the government has said, even as research from its own exams regulator laid bare the disruption to disadvantaged children’s education. On Monday, Ofqual and the Department for Education published a consultation on measures to “help mitigate the impact of disruption” for […]

Exams 2022: What you need to know about plans for GCSEs and A-levels

The government has published its long-awaiting consultation on changes to GCSE and A-level exams in 2022. Many of the proposals put forward are similar to those proposed for exams in 2021 before they were cancelled. Here’s what you need to know.   1. Choice of topics for some GCSEs As was proposed for 2021 exams […]

DfE and Ofqual launch exams 2022 consultation

The government has set out draft plans for GCSEs and A-level exams next year, including a choice of topics for some GCSE subjects and advance information about the focus of exams in others. But schools will have to wait until the autumn to hear the government’s final decisions on adaptations, and their decision relating to […]

Independence questions as Williamson ally put forward for Ofqual job

Gavin Williamson has put forward his own policy adviser to be the next chief regulator of Ofqual, prompting warnings over the body’s supposed independence. The Department for Education announced last week that Dr Jo Saxton, who founded and ran the Turner Schools academy trust before moving to her current job, was the education secretary’s preferred […]

Williamson wants to rush through university admissions reform ‘without legislation’

The government wants to rush through its plans for a post-qualifications admissions (PQA) system for universities “without legislation”, the education secretary has said. Gavin Williamson told the House of Commons today that “we really want to bring PQA forward as rapidly as possible”, and said he would like to do it “without legislation and in […]

Exams regulator calls in Test and Trace firm Sitel to manage public enquiry phone lines

Exams regulator Ofqual is paying £225,000 to an outsourcing company used in the government’s much-criticised Test and Trace system to answer calls from students, parents and teachers. The regulator outsourced its public enquiries lines to Sitel to meet an expected rise in calls. Last year Ofsted staff were deployed to help in the height of […]