Plans to provide extra support for students sitting GCSEs next year have come too late in the day, because some schools will have already run mock exams, headteachers’ leaders warn.
Ofqual ran a consultation on plans to provide GCSE maths, physics and combined science students with formulae and equation sheets during the 2024 exam series after the Department for Education asked it to continue allowing support materials.
In its response to the consultation - which closed yesterday - the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) warned that many schools and colleges will have already completed mock exams under the assumption that this support would not be allowed.
ASCL said it was “disappointed” that the proposal was now being consulted on “so late into the autumn term”, despite ASCL and other unions repeatedly bringing it up in stakeholder meetings.
The union has now called on Ofqual and the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) to produce guidance for what schools in this position should do.
ASCL’s consultation response said: “Ofqual and JCQ should release guidance for schools and colleges which have already completed mock assessments in line with Ofqual’s resilience arrangements, on whether they should complete new mock assessments.
“If not, Ofqual and JCQ need to provide assurance that these centres and their students won’t be disadvantaged in the unlikely event that exams are cancelled.”
Earlier this month, when Ofqual launched its consultation, education secretary Gillian Keegan said that this additional support would be given during GCSE exams next year as the last cohort “who experienced two years of national closures during secondary school”.
But responses from school leaders’ unions have called for this support to remain permanently in place.
Supporting materials should be ‘permanent’
In its consultation response, ASCL said that Ofqual did not identify any “significant assessment issues” from supporting materials in 2022 and 2023.
The union added: “We cannot understand why these arrangements should not continue in perpetuity. If the validity of candidates’ mathematical and scientific assessment was not compromised, then we fail to see why this support should not become a permanent feature of these qualifications.”
It said that supporting materials should also be available for November 2024 exams and that not extending the support in the future would negatively impact young cohorts taking exams from the summer of 2025.
The consultation ran from 16 November and closed yesterday.
‘No need to test memory’
The NAHT school leaders’ union has also said that formulae sheets should be kept in place for future exam series.
In its response to the consultation, it said: “For students to identify the right formula to use, apply it to the information given and work out an answer is a valid assessment of their knowledge and understanding; there is no need for an additional test of memory.”
The NAHT had also previously said the decision to provide supporting materials for the 2024 exams should have come sooner.
In its response to the consultation, exam board AQA said it supported equation and formulae sheets being retained for 2024 exams.
However, it also said that it supports “as swift a return to normality as possible” for exams.
2025 exams
AQA added that this change would “place a small additional burden” on other questions to differentiate between candidates, and said it would welcome a decision “sooner rather than later” on supporting material use in 2025 exams so it can be factored into exam design.
The exam board Pearson also welcomed the support for students disrupted by the pandemic, and said it would work with schools and teachers to put the measures in place if they went through.
Ofqual has previously said that the 2024 proposals are “intended to make the exams more accessible to students, while ensuring the qualifications remain valid and meaningful”.
Outgoing Ofqual boss Dr Jo Saxton had previously told Tes the return to pre-pandemic exams and grading was “done” after the 2023 exams.
A DfE spokesperson said: “These proposed arrangements recognise the disruption pupils set to sit their GCSE exams in 2024 experienced during year 7 and 8 due to national school closures during the pandemic.
“The 2024 cohort will be the last who experienced two years of national closures during secondary school, with later cohorts having had the opportunity to benefit from more time in secondary school with support from teachers and interventions such as the national tutoring programme.
“With pupils set to sit their GCSEs in May, schools will have adequate time to ensure pupils are aware of the formulae and equation sheet’s contents and that they feel confident in using them prior to exam period, should they be implemented.”
