Exam grades of students hardest hit by pandemic to be marked with asterisk
PUPILS who have faced significant disruption due to Covid-19 could receive an asterisk on their exam certificate, under plans being considered by the regulator.
Only students whose learning has been the “most seriously affected” would be given a star alongside their grade, according to Prof Lee Elliot Major who drew up the proposals.
The one-off “flagging system” would be used to signal to sixth-form colleges, universities and employers that pupils’ GCSE and A-level grades might have been higher had they not missed out.
“The danger for many disadvantaged pupils is that in missing out on a grade, they suffer permanent educational scarring – long-lasting negative impacts on their life prospects,” Prof Major said.
“This reform would make for a fairer exam system for many of our most vulnerable pupils. It would be levelling up on an individual level.”
Prof Major, who has advised Downing Street on social mobility issues, said that the flagging system could be used for individual students or, in extreme cases, to an entire class subjected to multiple bouts of self-isolation.”
National guidance would need to be drawn up and head teachers would need to sign off on which pupils they were putting forward for flagging.
The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation said it was giving the proposals “careful consideration”, adding that it was discussing them with “sector representatives”. An announcement is due next week.
Last week The Daily Telegraph revealed that students could be told in advance which topics would appear on 2021 exam papers, meaning that teachers could prepare pupils for questions.
The proposal led to a backlash from multi-academy chiefs and council leaders who argued that it did nothing to compensate for the fact that some pupils had missed out on far more school than others. Labour has called for a regional approach, arguing that students in some parts of the country – for example, the North-west – should be marked more generously than their peers in the South where attendance rates were far higher.
But experts believe that such an approach may end up giving a leg up to students who do not need it.
All exams in Wales have been cancelled on the basis that disruption has made it “impossible to guarantee a level playing field”. In Scotland the National 5 exams – which are equivalent to GCSES – will not go ahead but the Highers and Advanced Highers – equivalent to AS and A-levels – will take place.
Downing Street has insisted all exams in England will go ahead with a threeweek delay for more teaching time.
An Ofqual spokesman said: “With students having different experiences of the pandemic, we want fair ways of reflecting that next summer, while still making sure that exam grades give a good indication of individual students’ knowledge and understanding – as they should. This is one potential approach.”