Teachers’ grades for axed exams in England

GCSE, AS and A-level exams in England this summer will be replaced by school assessments, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has confirmed.

Mr Williamson told MPS that the Government will put i ts “trust in teachers, rather than algorithms”.

The Education Secretary acknowledged that exams are the “fairest way” of assessing what a student knows, but said the impact of the pandemic meant it was not possible to hold exams in the summer. Mr Williamson told MPS that SATS exams will also not be going ahead this year across England.

His comments in the House of Commons came after the Government announced that schools and colleges in England would be closed to most pupils until mid-february amid the new national lockdown.

The grading of GCSE and A-level students in England became a fiasco last summer when end-of-year exams were cancelled amid school closures.

Thousands of A-level students had their results downgraded from school estimates by a controversial algorithm, before Ofqual announced a U-turn, allowing them to use teachers’ predictions.

But yesterday, Mr Williamson said he wishes to use a form of teacher-assessed grades to award results rather than an algorithm.

He told the Commons: “While the details will need to be finet uned in consultation with Ofqual, the exam boards and teaching representative organisations.

“I can confirm now that I wish to use a form of teacher-assessed grades with training and support provided to ensure these are awarded fairly and consistently across the country.”