The government?s announcement on how this summer?s GCSE and A-level grades will be awarded is far from clear cut, writes Duncan Byrne, Head of Loughborough Grammar School
Since the cancellation of GCSE and A-level exams, which was announced by the Prime Minister on 4 January, there has been a great deal of uncertainly among students, teachers and parents about how grades will be awarded. After a period of consultation that attracted more than 100,000 submissions, the Exams Regulator Ofqual finally published its decisions on Thursday 25 February.
Unfortunately, in the eyes of most schools at least, these guidelines are extremely broad and vague. Schools have been instructed that teachers must assess their students? performance using a ?broad range of evidence? from throughout the course. Exam boards will be producing some ?mini-exams? that schools might wish to use to help them gain more evidence of achievement, but these are entirely optional. The only point of absolute certainty seems to lie in coursework, which should be included in teachers? deliberations, whether finished or incomplete. Therefore, at this point, it?s up to individual schools to devise their own policies as to precisely which evidence they?ll consider. Some schools had mock exams in December and may feel confident in the quality of this evidence. Others may prefer to focus on tests to be sat once students are back in school from 8 March. However, I anticipate that all schools will require their students...