Headteachers should use their “own judgement” over whether they need to continue collecting evidence for teacher-assessed grades (TAGs) in case exams are cancelled again this summer, the chief regulator has told school leaders.
In a letter sent to heads this week, Dr Jo Saxton wrote that exam contingencies should “help rather than hinder” students’ preparation for GCSE and A-level exams this summer.
She added: “I encourage you to trust your judgement about whether you have sufficient evidence.”
In previous comments on exam preparations last month, she said there were no plans to “switch off” the Plan B exam contingency measures in case exams have to be cancelled for the third year running because of Covid.
In the speech to the Sixth Form Colleges Association conference in January, Dr Saxton added she was aware that some teachers would like the contingency plans to be removed, but said “the need to collect evidence of student performance in case exams don’t take place is important”.
GCSEs 2022: Preparations in case exams are cancelled again
The regulator told schools to carry out mock-style exams throughout the year in case exams are cancelled again in the summer and replaced with TAGs. However, education secretary Nadhim Zahawi has insisted that exams will go ahead as planned this year, despite ongoing disruption to learning in schools caused by the Omicron variant of Covid.
Dr Saxton also wrote to students this week saying the regulator would publish ”videos, infographics and other materials” to help those who have missed the experience of sitting a formal exam due to the pandemic “to know what that feels like.”
Advance information on GCSE and A-level exams was published by exam boards on Monday to help focus revision for summer exams, amid fears that it will not be enough to mitigate against the disruption to learning caused by the Covid pandemic.
The advance material is aimed at helping to focus study ahead of exams for students whose learning has been disrupted for subjects including maths, sciences, English, history and geography, but without providing exact questions that will appear.
Examiners will also be asked to be more generous than with pre-pandemic exams when setting grade boundaries to account for disruption.
