A-Level and GCSE results to be partly based on teachers 'assessing marks students would have got'

A-level and GCSE results this year will be partially based on teachers assessing the marks they think students would have got, the Government has announced.

With exams cancelled and schools closed due to the coronavirus crisis, new guidance published on Friday said that exam boards will be asking teachers to submit judgments about the grades they think their students would have received if tests had gone ahead.

But, the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) has said the new details have left "many questions unanswered."

Under the new plan, teachers will have to take into account “a range of evidence and data”, such as mock exam results and other school work.

This will be combined with information from “other relevant data”, such as pupils’ previous attainment, to calculate their grades.

The calculated grades will be “a best assessment” of the work students have put in, the Government said.

It added that “the aim is to provide these calculated grades to students before the end of July”.

A-level and GCSE grades are usually published mid-August.

Students will also have the option to sit an exam early in the next academic year – which starts in September – if they want to, the Department for Education said.

It added that this year’s grades will be “indistinguishable from those provided in other years”.

It said it would also aim to ensure that the distribution of grades “follows a similar pattern to that in other years, so that this year’s students do not face a systematic disadvantage as a consequence of these extraordinary circumstances”.

The Department said it recognises that some students may feel disappointed that they have not been able to sit their exams.

“If they do not believe the correct process has been followed in their case they will be able to appeal on that basis,” it said.

“In addition, if they do not feel their calculated grade reflects their performance, they will have the opportunity to sit an exam at the earliest reasonable opportunity, once schools are open again.

“Students will also have the option to sit their exams in summer 2021.”

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said the decision on assessing grades has been made in "extraordinary times".

"Cancelling exams is something no Education Secretary would ever want to do, however these are extraordinary times and this measure is a vital but unprecedented step in the country’s efforts to stop the spread of coronavirus," he said.

"My priority now is to ensure no young person faces a barrier when it comes to moving onto the next stage of their lives – whether that’s further or higher education, an apprenticeship or a job.

"I have asked exam boards to work closely with the teachers who know their pupils best to ensure their hard work and dedication is rewarded and fairly recognised.”

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the ASCL, said the teacher assessment system outlined by the Government “leaves many questions unanswered and will clearly require more detail”.

But he added the union is “confident that Ofqual, the exam boards, schools, and colleges will do everything possible to ensure grades are awarded fairly and consistently in these difficult circumstances.”

Mr Barton added: “Teachers are experts in their subjects, they know these qualifications inside out, they know their students, and they have the professional skills to assess them accurately.

“We do not subscribe to the notion that exams are the only credible way of assessing qualifications, and this is an opportunity to at least point the way to a less brutal system.”

He added that ASCL is pleased that students who are unhappy with their grades will have the chance to sit exams at a later date.

The heads of the Russell Group, GuildHE, MillionPlus and University Alliance issued a joint statement confirming that universities will do all they can to support students and ensure they can progress to university.

As well as academic qualifications, many students will have been due to take exams for vocational courses this summer.

The Government said that these vocational qualifications are offered by a wide range of awarding bodies, with different types of assessment.

In many cases, it said, students will have completed modules or work that could be used to help calculate a grade.

The Department for Education said: “We are encouraging these organisations to show the maximum possible flexibility and pragmatism to ensure students are not disadvantaged.”