The coronavirus crisis should end obsession with exam grades

OF all the things that didn’t go to plan last year – and, let’s face it, there were a few – the summer exams fiasco was by far the worst. It was inexcusable, damaging to students, and reflected a Government department that was far from on top of its brief.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson remains in charge, and there will be ministers sacked by Governments for overseeing far lesser cockups who will still wonder why. But Williamson seems to be making a better fist of it this time, with an early and responsible decision to scrap this year’s exams and let teachers decide on the grades their pupils should get.

Last year’s algorithm has also been given the boot. Yesterday, Williamson announced that A-level and GCSE students will receive grades determined by their teachers earlier in August to give them more time to appeal. All pupils in England will be allowed to appeal their grades at no additional cost and they will be offered the opportunity to sit exams in the autumn if they are still unhappy with their results.

Exam boards will provide teachers with optional assessment questions for students to answer to help schools decide what grades to award. But these assessments are not expected to be carried out in exam conditions and teachers will have the flexibility to choose how long students have to complete the task, and where it will be carried out.

Normally students receive their results in mid to late August, but A-level students will receive their results on August 10 and GCSE pupils will receive theirs two days later, on August 12. It is hoped that bringing ‘results day’ forward will ensure pupils have enough time to log appeals, so A-level students do not miss out on their preferred university places for the autumn.

Williamson is due to announce how grades will be assessed later today and, assuming that has been properly planned this time, the plan seems clearer, and fairer on the young, whose education has been so wretchedly disrupted by Covid-19.

If the new system is successful, it has to be hoped that this summer leads to a fundamental overhaul of the education system, including what is taught, and how learners are assessed. School curricula are outdated and seemingly out of step with the world that our children will be entering as adults.

The system of assessment, basing so much on exam performance, is dated, and reflects an obsession with league tables and ‘getting a university education’. Society is moving on from this, and the things that we value in the young are now more diverse than just exam grades.

Of course today’s employers want educated employees, but they also want entrants who have social skills, confidence, and who can reflect, observe, and work with others. An over-emphasis on exam grades limits both teachers and pupils, and the danger is that young people are educated in order to achieve a grade, not for themselves. Out of lockdown, the new normal in Britain will be very different to that of one year ago. Attitudes and values have changed, and surely it is time fo the education system to reflect that.