After two years of cancellations due to the coronavirus pandemic, GCSE and A-level exams will be going ahead this summer. This year, students will be taking their qualifications in their schools or colleges as normal, however, with infection rates still high, what will the protocol be for students who contract Covid-19 and are unable to take an exam?

Using the guidance from the Department for Education and the Joint Council of Qualifications (JCQ), we put together the key information you need to know:

What happens if a student is ill with Covid-19 for an exam?

It’s an awful situation, but it happens every year: a student studies really hard, prepares for the exam, but then is struck down with a bug, or for personal reasons is unable to sit the exam.

There are procedures for this, of course, and these are what you need to follow for Covid-related absences.

Specifically, if a student is unwell with coronavirus and has to miss their exam, then a JCQ self-certification form 14 needs to be completed.

This form should be given to the student and parents or carers to be filled out by both the student and the parent or carer, and then returned so that it can be verified by the school or college (referred to as the “centre”) before being submitted to the relevant exam board as part of the special consideration application.

The form can be filled out on a computer, however, the signature must be handwritten and electronic signatures will not be accepted.

Although there won’t be an expectation for you to provide any proof that you have contracted Covid-19, the DfE does suggest taking a photograph of a positive test result if that is possible.

What does the school do?

Once the self-certification form has been submitted, then the school or college will need to fill out either the online form for the specific exam board, or if there is not an online form, a JCQ special consideration form 10.

This will allow the exam board to consider whether it can award the student a grade based on the student’s performance.

This might be using non-exam components, such as coursework, or if the course is only made up of examinations, then using the marks from the other exams the student did sit when they were well.

This procedure is the same as in any year if a student is unwell on the day of their examination.

What should the school do if they suspect the student isn’t being truthful about their illness?

If the centre has a reason to believe that the student has lied about their illness, then a form 14 cannot be completed.

The form says a form 14 can only be submitted if “the centre has no reason to suspect that this may be a fraudulent claim”.

The form also makes it clear to students and parents that a false claim carries heavy consequences.

Students have to sign to say they understand they risk disqualification if they claim to be ill when they are not.

Parents also have to sign to say they understand it is fraudulent to claim the student was unwell if that isn’t the case.

If a student arrives at the exam hall and says they feel unwell, are they allowed in?

Although students may feel tempted to still come in and get the exam done, that isn’t the approach the government wants young people to take.

Instead, students should follow the UK Health Security Agency guidance that says people “who have a high temperature, or do not feel well, should try to stay at home and avoid contact with others”.

In this scenario, students do not need to fill in form 14, as long as the centre has seen the student to confirm they are unwell and has sent them home. In this instance, they only need to complete a form 10 to record the absence and apply for special consideration.

If the student is not sent home by a member of staff, but rather decides themselves to go home, then a form 14 and form 10 will need to be completed.

Does it matter if a student misses more than one exam?

This year, you might have noticed the dates of the exams on the timetable look a little bit more spread out than normal. This is because there have been longer gaps between the exams in each subject.

Now there are breaks of at least ten days between exams in the same subject so this should allow the student to still sit some of the exams for the qualification and meet the one component requirement to be awarded a grade.

In the event that a student misses two of their exams, as long as one component of that exam has been completed and the student has been prepared for the entire course, then they should still be awarded a grade.

More details on how this will work can be found in the JCQ document ‘A Guide to Special Considerations’. There are some useful example scenarios on page 20 as well.

What does a school need to do if there is an outbreak of coronavirus cases?

Since the 24 February, schools were directed to stop contact tracing, and the guidance said that contacts are “no longer required to self-isolate or advised to take daily tests, and contact tracing has ended”.

Consequently, if a school has an outbreak of Covid-19 during the exam period, there is no requirement for a school to inform Public Health England.

The only requirement to report the absence is through the JCQ form 14.

Will masks need to be worn in the exam hall?

No masks will need to be worn for any exam.

Just as the need for masks to be worn in classrooms has been dropped from the guidance, there is no expectation for students to have to wear masks during their exams, nor for the staff members invigilating the exams.

Will students be given special consideration if they have long covid?

The JCQ has clarified that the current guidance, which says special consideration cannot apply to students with a long term illness or other difficulties during the course, “unless the illness or circumstances exacerbate what would otherwise be a minor issue at the time of the assessment”, will also apply to students struggling with long Covid.

It said that schools could apply for special consideration for a student who is “having repeated difficulty maintaining concentration during examinations” despite having “previously approved” adjustments, such as supervised rest breaks.

In these instances, the school or college will need to fill out either the online form for the specific exam board, or if there is not an online form, a JCQ special consideration form 10.