exams 2021 | Schools Week

Avoid ‘complex language’ and stereotypes to make exams accessible, says draft guidance

Ofqual launches consultation on draft accessibility guidance for exam boards

Exams 2021: AQA to return 26% of fees paid by schools

Exam board AQA has confirmed it will once again return just 26 per cent of entry fees paid this year after saving £45 million. In a statement today the board said it was returning all of the money it saved to schools “because, as we’ve always said, we’d never want to benefit financially from the […]

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 […]

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 […]

GCSEs and A-levels 2021: 8 things you need to know from grades guidance

The Joint Council for Qualifications has finally confirmed what schools need to do to award GCSE and A-level grades this summer. Exams have been cancelled due to the ongoing impact of the coronavirus pandemic, with teachers deciding students’ grade. For key dates, see our story here. We take a look at what you need to […]

Exams 2021: Heads will have to confirm pupils have learned ‘sufficient content’ for progression

Headteachers will have to confirm GCSE and A-level students have been taught “sufficient content” to allow them to progress to the next stage in their education when submitting teacher assessment grades this year. Ofqual has this morning published its response to the consultation on plans to replace exams with teacher assessments this summer. The Department […]

Exams 2021: Externally-set questions to be ‘optional’ for schools

Schools won’t be forced to use externally-set questions when determining their pupils’ GCSE and A-level grades this year, the government has confirmed. Teacher assessments will be used to issue grades to pupils this summer after formal exams were cancelled following partial school closures. A joint consultation by Ofqual and the Department for Education last month […]

Exams 2021: 300,000 students could face ‘unfair’ grading, warn disability groups

Hundreds of thousands of pupils could face “unfair” exams grading this summer if their accessibility needs are not properly taken into account, disability organisations have warned. The National Deaf Children’s Society, Royal National Institute of Blind People, the Professional Association of the Vision Impairment Education Workforce and the British Association of Teachers of the Deaf […]

Let schools tell pupils their teacher assessment grades before submission, says exam board

Strict rules forbidding schools from telling pupils their teacher assessment grades should be dropped this year to prevent “sudden surprises” and reduce appeals, an exam board has said. Ofqual proposes that schools should not tell students the grade they have submitted to exam boards this summer. Pupils would instead have an option to appeal after […]