Many students may feel a sense of disappointment that they were unable to sit their GCSE, AS or A level exams. But this should not prevent students getting the grades they deserve, their hard work throughout the year should still be recognised. Instead of taking exams this year, schools and colleges will be best places to judge the likely performance of their students.
For this summer’s awards, schools and colleges are being asked to provide assessment grades for their students. These are extraordinary circumstances that students and teachers find themselves in but regardless of this, results should remain fair, objective and carefully considered to reflect the grades that students would most likely have achieved if they had sat exams.
I believe that grades awarded will reflect performance and not disadvantage anyone in progressing to sixth form, college, university, apprenticeships, training or work. We must do all we can to limit the impact these circumstances have had on students and support them in progressing in the future.
Exam boards will be contacting schools and colleges and other exam centres after Easter asking them to submit a centre assessment grade for each student that they feel they would likely have achieved, classwork, bookwork, and participation or performances in subjects such as PE music or drama, non-exam assessments, results of mock exams and previous exam results, a declaration from the head of centre making the submission and lastly the rank order of students within each grade for each subject where 1 is the most secure. The deadline of which will be no earlier than the 29th of May.
For those that have been home schooled, heads of centres have been asked to provide centre assessment grades and include them in the rankings. Other options are still being explored for those that this may not be possible for and wish to progress. It is a possibility that some individuals may have to take exams in the autumn or next summer.
I hope that this will be of some reassurance to students who were due to take exams this summer and that it will not disadvantage them in any way and instead reward them for the hard work and effort they have been putting in.
