A-levels | Schools Week

Autumn exam series: Boards only required to offer AS-levels in five subjects

Exam boards will only be required to offer AS-level exams in five subjects during this year’s autumn exam series, Ofqual has confirmed. The exams regulator has set out its final plans for an autumn series for pupils who aren’t happy with their teacher assessment grades, following a consultation. Autumn exams will be open to any […]

Appeals against 2020 grades stutter on eight months after fiasco

Pupils and their families are still fighting teacher grades eight months after they were awarded last year, despite ministers promising a “swift” appeals process. While pupils could not appeal last year if they disagreed with their school’s professional judgment of the grade, they could make complaints about bias, discrimination and malpractice. Nick Gibb, the schools […]

Study to track Covid’s long-term impact on pupils’ life chances

A new study will track Covid’s long-term impact on the life chances of thousands of year 11 pupils. The £4.6 million Covid social mobility and opportunities (COSMO) study will look at the pandemic’s long-term consequences for 12,000 participants’ education, careers and wellbeing. Researchers at the Sutton Trust think tank and University College London plan to […]

DfE knew scale of result downgrades before 2020 exams fiasco

The Department for Education knew the full scale of downgraded results before the 2020 exams fiasco, a Schools Week investigation has established. Emails from officials also show the department knew of – and was pressing Ofqual – about the “outlier” grades issue a week before results day. It was a mistake not to hold a […]

Heads plan greater weighting on ‘exam-style papers’ for teacher assessment grades

Over half of leaders plan to give greater weighting to “exam-style papers” than other forms of assessment when issuing grades this summer, a union survey has revealed. The poll of 521 members of the ASCL school leaders’ union also found that around one in 14 respondents plan to base grades on exam-style papers alone, despite […]

GCSE and A-levels: Ofqual reveals quality assurance evidence requirements

Schools will have to provide samples of student work within two days of being asked under the quality assurance process for teacher assessed grades this year. It is the latest Ofqual update to the grading process this year – with just under eight weeks to go until the submission deadline on June 18. In a […]

Ofqual reveals more about how 2021 grade appeals will work

Pupils on grade borderlines are unlikely to be marked up at appeal even if the evidence showed they could have got a higher grade, draft Ofqual appeals guidance suggests. The exams regulator has published draft guidance on the appeals process for general qualifications this summer following the cancellation of exams and move to teacher assessments. […]

Speed read: Think tank calls for new ‘baccalaureate’ to replace A-levels

A three-year ‘baccalaureate’ should be introduced to replace A-levels, BTECs, T-Levels and apprenticeships, a think tank has said. A new report from EDSK, released today, claims the dominance of A-levels has had a detrimental impact on the prestige of other options, while limiting the breadth of curriculum. It is the second instalment in a two-part […]

Ofqual drops requirement for heads to declare pupils have learned enough to ‘progress’

Ofqual has dropped a proposed requirement for heads to declare that GCSE and A-level students have been taught enough to allow them to progress to the next stage in their education when submitting grades this year. In its response to the assessments consultation last month, Ofqual said heads would have to sign a declaration stating, […]