Pupils CAN sit axed exams... but have just weeks to prepare

PUPILs given teachers’ grades in place of exams cancelled during the pandemic will be able to sit the tests later this year if they are unhappy with them.

GCSE and a-level papers will be set for the autumn – but the timetable gives children just weeks to get up to speed with their studies after returning to school in september.

regulator Ofqual said pupils will be able to choose the subjects to be examined on.

The move allows youngsters to try to beat the grades allotted by teachers. They can pick whichever mark is higher. Ofqual said it will confirm the exact timing of the exams later, but it is aiming for as and a- levels in October and GCses in November.

after this summer’s exams were cancelled, it was decided to award youngsters grades in august based on teacher assessment.

schools and colleges need to rank students for each subject and submit these grades to the exam boards for a statistical adjustment process.

The autumn exams are for pupils who would like to improve the grade they receive or for those who are unable to receive a calculated grade for some reason. The regulator yesterday said exam boards must offer all subjects available as GCses, as and a-levels that they had planned to run in the summer.

It has ignored the pleas of headteachers, who had warned that schools could struggle to hold the full range of extra exams while co- ordinating a wider return to the classroom.

school leaders said it will be a ‘significant challenge’ to accommodate exams alongside face-toface lessons, while providing supexpertise.” port to youngsters who will have been out of school for six months.

a- level pupils will get their teacher- submitted results on august 13 while GCse grades will be given on august 20.

Geoff Barton, of the association of school and College Leaders, said: ‘ We had argued for the autumn series to be restricted to a-levels and GCse english and maths. however, we understand the pressure on the Government and Ofqual to provide the option of a full suite of exams.’

sally Collier, chief regulator at Ofqual, said there would also be an appeals process.

Individual pupils will not be allowed to challenge teacherassessed grades. But a school or college can appeal to the exam board if it believes it made an error when submitting information or the board made a mistake with a pupil’s grade.

COVID test that does not require a swab of the throat may be available when schools reopen in september, researchers hope.

helen Ward, professor of public health at Imperial College London, said: ‘We’re hoping to get saliva tests or other tests so you could actually do rapid regular testing in workplaces, schools, airports. We’re not quite there yet, but by september hopefully we’ll have far more technologies in place.’

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‘Significant challenge’