Exams: Teachers will give grades – but how?
Fear of new shambles amid warnings of lack of ‘Plan B’ detail
THE cancellation of exams in English schools was confirmed yesterday amid concerns about the lack of a detailed Plan B for assessing pupils.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said his department and the regulator Ofqual had ‘worked up a range of contingency options’ involving teacher assessment.
But he offered few details when he addressed the Commons yesterday.
‘Although exams are the fairest way we have of assessing what a student knows,
‘Lots of different moving parts’
impact of this pandemic now means it is not possible to have these exams this year,’ he told MPs.
‘I can confirm that GCSEs, A-levels and AS-level exams will not go ahead this summer. This year, we’re going to put our trust in teachers, rather than algorithms.’
Last year’s exams descended into chaos after thousands of students were arbitrarily downgraded by what Boris Johnson called a ‘mutant algorithm’ from Ofqual.
Mr Williamson said this year’s system needed to be ‘fine tuned’ but would rely on ‘ a form of teacher-assessed grades with training and support provided to ensure these are awarded fairly and consistently across the country’. He also revealed that primary school SATs would not go ahead this year across England. Exams have also been cancelled in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Mr Williamson has faced widespread criticism for his handling of education during the pandemic.
But Mr Johnson’s press secretary Allegra Stratton said yesterday the Prime Minister believes the Education Secretary is doing his job ‘to his utmost ability’.
Natalie Perera, of the Education Policy Institute think-tank, said
Mr Williamson’s statement ‘was notably short on detail’.
Geoff Barton, of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: ‘It is the detail which is all important and which schools and colleges urgently need.
‘It is frustrating that there is not an off-the-shelf Plan B ready to go.
‘What the Government and Ofqual must certainly avoid is a repeat of the shambles of last summer.’
Ofqual’s interim chief regulator Simon Lebus also highlighted the uncertainty and the prospect of teachers facing more paperwork. ‘It is going to be a lot of work,’ he said. ‘One of the concerns I have is the extra workload for teachers, but it is also going to be something that is complex in how the awarding organisations manage it.’
He told the BBC: ‘There are going to lots of different moving parts to come up with the right outcomes.’
Earlier he expressed concern that pupils may lose motivation with exams cancelled but urged them to ‘please continue to engage as fully as you can in your education – this will put you in the best position, whatever arrangements are made for your qualifications’.
Labour’s education spokesman Kate Green also pressed Mr Williamson on his plans, saying it was ‘children, families and education staff across the country who pay the price for his incompetence’.
The National Education Union’s Dr Mary Bousted said staff need more information and ‘students and parents will want to understand how the process is fair’.
Dr Simon Hyde, of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference, which represents elite public schools such as Eton, said: ‘Students are left in limbo and school leaders will be quietly fuming.’