Pupils taking GCSE computer science will continue to have to complete a practical assessment in 2020, despite it not counting towards their final grade, it was announced today.

In January, the exams regulator Ofqual announced that practical assessments would not contribute to the grades of pupils sitting the exam this year or next, following the discovery of widespread malpractice.

Teachers and pupils were found to have discussed solutions or advice for the non-exam assessment - a practical project assessing pupils’ programming skills - online last term, contrary to exam board rules.

Today Ofqual announced that it would adopt the same approach in 2020. The regulator said the coursework tasks pupils have to complete will be set by exam boards, but not formally marked.

The decision on practical assessments has been made despite the opposition of 54 per cent of those who responded to an earlier Ofqual consultation.

Students ‘demotivated’

The consultation report states: “Teachers, students and exam boards raised concerns that students who had invested effort in their non-exam assessment task would feel demotivated if their performance in the task did not contribute to their final grade.

“This could undermine their confidence in the qualification and their determination to perform well in their exams.”

Many teachers said the task should be abandoned altogether if it was no longer to contribute to the grade, as they said time could be better spent preparing students for their exams, the report says.

The decision also came in for heavy criticism from a computing teacher at this year’s annual conference of the NUT section of the NEU teaching union, who told delegates it had severely curtailed time available to teach course content.

In a statement, Ofqual said: “We are now advising teachers that the same arrangements will stand for students who start studying the subject this September and take their exams in 2020.

“They will be formally assessed only by exam. These students must still complete a task set by their respective exam board, but this will not be formally marked.”

It said students may be given a choice of which non-exam task to complete by their exam board.

It said the tasks would “support the curriculum requirements for the course, notably the opportunity to develop the knowledge, understanding and skills involved in programming”.

Schools will have to confirm to their exam board that they have set aside time for pupils to complete a task, and given them the chance to do so.

Chief regulator Sally Collier said: “We want to give teachers early notice of this decision so that that they can begin preparations ahead of the summer. We hope that this confirmation is helpful for schools and colleges in planning for the next academic year.”

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