The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) has published proposals to mitigate the impact of learning time lost during the school closure in the coronavirus pandemic. Pupils in England who are due to sit their GCSEs next summer will now be taught a reduced curriculum, with a smaller number of subjects, and examinations will be delayed by a few weeks. This will help the students who haven’t had enough time to cover the entire curriculum during Covid-19. There’s a need for an urgent plan B as suggested by headteachers who feel that there’s a need to cope with the learning loss.
Ofqual has asked exam boards to draw up plans for GCSE exams to start after the summer half term next year – moving the exam series back from May to a starting date of 7 June 2021, running into July – in order to allow more teaching time. This could delay results.
Delaying A-levels is also under consideration.
“We are also seeking views on whether such a change would be appropriate for the AS/A-level exam timetable, and the impact of any delay in issuing results,” Ofqual said.
Some highlights of the proposals include:
Plans to allow GCSE students to observe practical science work rather than undertake it themselves and the removal of the compulsory computer programming project.
GCSE and A-level art and design students will be assessed on their portfolio alone and will not be required to complete a supervised task.
In GCSE geography, fieldwork will not be assessed.
Ofqual’s chief regulator, Sally Collier, said: “We have considered a wide range of options before coming forward with a set of proposals for next year’s GCSE, AS and A-level exams, which will help reduce the pressure on students and teachers, while allowing them to progress with valid qualifications which higher educational institutions and employers can trust.”
Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, responded: “These plans appear to amount to little more than tinkering at the edges of next year’s exams, despite the massive disruption to learning caused by the coronavirus emergency.
A consultation on Ofqual’s proposals is now under way and the regulator will announce its final decision on next year’s exams in August.