The exams regulator is looking at how to make exams in 2021 less “daunting” for pupils, as it acknowledged many will have experienced varying levels of schooling in different areas.

Asked by Tes how the regulator would take different rates of school closures into account, Ofqual said it was considering a range of measures for next year to ensure students were not disadvantaged.

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“We are working with the Department for Education, the sector and exam boards on plans for summer 2021 examinations and assessments, and on a range of options for different scenarios,” a spokesperson for Ofqual said. 

“We know that students will have missed out on some teaching and learning and that this varies by individual, school/college and region of the country.

“Exams test learning of course, that is what they must do, but we are considering ways in which we can make those exams a little less daunting a prospect for students.”

A range of changes to exams are being considered amid fears that the pandemic will lead to further educational disruption throughout the school year.

The government has already pushed the start of exams back by three weeks, and is also considering measures such as a teacher-assessed rank order of pupils, more choice in papers and using mocks as options for a “plan B” if exams cannot go ahead.