Cancel GCSE and A-levels in 2021 replace with Course Work and Teacher Assessment

Cancel all standardise testing for year 11 and year 12 students in 2021. By replacing tests with smaller amounts of course work and teacher assessment, students would have a fair chance at achieving their target grades and it would relieve stress for teachers and students.

As a student I know I don't have a fair opportunity to reach the grades predicted for myself or the grades predicted for my peers. Not all schools are equal, for example lack of funding when comparing private and public schools. This means not all students had equal learning opportunities over lockdown if they didn't have access to a computer or learning materials. Course work and teacher assessment ensures that all students are given an equal chance to get their rightful grades.

Instead, it is the Government’s policy (which it is consulting on jointly with Ofqual) that a form of teacher assessment should be used.

The Government has announced that, from 5 January 2021, schools and colleges should move to remote provision, except for vulnerable children and children of critical workers. We recognise that Year 11 and 13 students who were due to take exams in 2021, and their parents, carers and teachers, are concerned about the disruption to education caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

While the Department continues to believe that exams are the best way of judging students’ performance, we cannot guarantee all students will be in a position to fairly sit their exams this summer. We have therefore confirmed that GCSEs, A and AS level exams will not go ahead this summer as planned, and we are consulting on options to enable candidates to receive a grade.

The Government has confirmed that a form of teacher-assessed grades should be used, with training and support provided to teachers to ensure these are awarded fairly and consistently. Working with Ofqual, we are consulting on how to fairly award all pupils, including students taking vocational qualifications, with a grade that ensures they can progress to the next stage of their lives.

We will build on the joint stakeholder engagement that Ofqual and DfE undertook last year and engage with as many people as possible in an open and transparent way to consider the main options and their implications, including, seeking the views of the students and their parents.