Parents oversee exams as invigilators ‘fear Covid’

Parents have been called on to watch over GCSE and A-level exams as invigilators are staying away from schools in case they catch Covid.

As the first in-person exams since the start of the pandemic began yesterday, head teachers raised concerns about a lack of invigilators for pupils sitting their assessments across the country.

Kendrick School in Reading has had to recruit and train some parents and two part-time librarians to help invigilate exams this year.

Katherine Mcdiarmid, exams officer at the school, said: “[Covid] has meant that a lot of [invigilators] don’t want to put themselves at risk.”