Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the guidance on teacher assessments has been made available to teachers of A-Levels and GCSEs.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In light of the increase in COVID-19 rates, the Government has made the decision to limit attendance at schools and colleges to reduce the number of contacts between households. As a result, examinations will not go ahead in the summer as planned.
The Department and Ofqual have launched a two week consultation on how to fairly award all pupils a grade that supports them to progress to the next stage of their lives. The consultation can be accessed from the Ofqual website and will be open until 29 January 2021. We strongly encourage all our stakeholders, including students and their parents, to respond.
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has confirmed he wishes teachers to assess the standard at which pupils are performing and thus the grade they should receive. The consultation proposes that teachers will be supported in doing so through training, guidance, and papers to inform assessments. Guidance materials will be made available after the consultation has closed and the detail of the approach is agreed. The consultation also proposes and seeks views on approaches to assessment which will allow teachers to assess pupils’ performance on content they have had an opportunity to study, despite the disruption, whilst continuing to ensure they have sufficient breadth of knowledge to enable them to successfully progress.
The Department recognises the challenges faced by schools, teachers, and pupils, and knows that disruption has been felt differently across the country and between schools and colleges in the same area, and between pupils within individual institutions. In order to support schools to make up for lost learning, the Government has provided a £1 billion catch-up programme. This includes a £650 million catch-up premium for all schools in recognition of the fact that all pupils will have been impacted by disruption to their education. Additionally, the £350 million National Tutoring Programme is an ambitious scheme that will provide additional, targeted tuition support for disadvantaged pupils who need the most help to catch up.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department has taken to fairly assess GCSE and A-Level students who were scheduled to retake their exams in 2021 and having left their school or college are no longer able to receive a teacher assessment.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department concluded a successful Autumn exam series, allowing pupils who were unhappy with the grades they received in Summer 2020 the opportunity to sit them again. The Department understands, however, that some pupils may have decided to wait until the Summer 2021 series to take their exams.
In light of the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Department will not be asking pupils to sit GCSE, AS and A level exams this summer as planned. It is important therefore that there is a clear and accessible route for private candidates, and those not in school this year, to be assessed and receive a grade.
A rapid consultation on how to fairly award all pupils a grade that ensures they can progress to the next stage of their lives will be launching shortly. The Department will continue to engage with a range of relevant stakeholders when developing plans for our policy on GCSE, AS and A level assessments in 2021, as will the exams regulator Ofqual. A full equalities impact assessment, informed by the results of the consultation, will be published in due course.
Jan. 18 2021
Source Page: Reducing Parental Conflict: the impact on local servicesFound: GCSE grades A* -C and equivalent) and above have a higher employment rate than those with below level
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government who will comprise the membership of the expert group that will advise the Secretary of State for Education on arrangements for GCSE and A level examinations in 2021.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The department recognises the challenges faced by schools, teachers, and students, and understands that disruption has been felt differently across the country, between schools and colleges in the same area, and between students within individual institutions.
In addition to a package of measures announced to ensure exams are delivered fairly next summer, the department confirmed the launch of an expert advisory group to consider the differential impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on pupils and recommend mitigations for these impacts: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-support-the-summer-2021-exams. The expert advisory group is expected to provide initial advice in the early Spring, ensuring that any further policies recommended to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education support the measures already announced and are developed with the education sector. We are working to finalise the terms of reference and membership of the group and will ensure that membership is representative of the sector, and geographically diverse.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect to receive the report of the expert group tasked with advising the Secretary of State for Education on arrangements for GCSE and A level examinations in 2021.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The department recognises the challenges faced by schools, teachers, and students, and understands that disruption has been felt differently across the country, between schools and colleges in the same area, and between students within individual institutions.
In addition to a package of measures announced to ensure exams are delivered fairly next summer, the department confirmed the launch of an expert advisory group to consider the differential impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on pupils and recommend mitigations for these impacts: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-support-the-summer-2021-exams. The expert advisory group is expected to provide initial advice in the early Spring, ensuring that any further policies recommended to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education support the measures already announced and are developed with the education sector. We are working to finalise the terms of reference and membership of the group and will ensure that membership is representative of the sector, and geographically diverse.
Found: Source: JCQ, GCE A Level & GCSE AS Level Results - Summer 2020 , 10 September 2020, p13 42 Ofqual
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish his Department's contingency plans relating to Summer 2021 GCSE and A Level exams.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government’s position is clear: exams will take place in summer 2021. Schools across the country, including in areas of high prevalence of COVID-19, are doing a brilliant job staying open and providing high quality education to pupils.
We recognise that there will be challenges for students being assessed in summer 2021. We have announced a wide range of contingency measures to ensure that as many pupils as possible can take an exam paper in their chosen subjects, and all students will have the opportunity to be awarded a qualification.
Exams will be sufficiently spaced to account for periods of self-isolation. If a student misses all their assessments in a subject, they will have the opportunity to sit a contingency paper held shortly after the main exams. Students who miss part of their exams because of the COVID-19 outbreak will be able to get a grade through the special consideration process, provided they have sat one paper or non-exam assessment and met requirements.
In the extreme case where a student has a legitimate reason to miss all their papers, then a validated teacher informed assessment can be used, only once all chances to sit an exam have passed. The Government will set out further detail on this process, and on adaptations to exams, in the New Year.
Special Report Sep. 24 2020
Inquiry: The impact of COVID-19 on education and children’s servicesFound: Second Special Report - Getting the grades they’ve earned: COVID-19: the cancellation of exams and ‘calculated
Written Evidence Sep. 09 2020
Inquiry: The impact of COVID-19 on education and children’s servicesFound: CIE0533 - The impact of COVID-19 on education and children’s services Cambridge Assessment Written Evidence
Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Independent - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to address the concerns of schools who state that the Centre Assessed Grades at GSCE and A level allocated to them were fair and balanced in contrast to other schools where predicted grades were inflated and resulted in a skewing of the overall results.
Answered by Nick Gibb
All centre assessment grades in England were signed off by head teachers or college principals who confirmed that they honestly and fairly represented the grades that these students would have been most likely to achieve if they had sat their exams as planned.
Following the release of A level results based on calculated grades, it became clear that there were far too many inconsistent and unfair outcomes for students. The Department agreed with Ofqual that grades for A levels and GCSEs should be awarded to students in England on the basis of students’ centre assessment grades or their calculated grades, whichever was higher. The Department believes this to be the fairest approach in the exceptional circumstances of this year, to avoid some students in England receiving grades that did not reflect their prior performance.
There was scope for schools to appeal where they believed that there had been errors of process, and students could also raise complaints if they had evidence of bias or discrimination. Schools have also been able to enter candidates for the exceptional autumn series to sit exams if they remain dissatisfied with their result.
The approach taken in Northern Ireland this summer was a matter for the Northern Ireland government and the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment Regulation.