A teachers’ leader has called on the government to provide more support to schools to help the most disadvantaged students sitting exams this summer, after most teachers who responded to a poll said advance information for GCSEs and A levels released last month will not be enough.
More than 60 per cent of teachers who responded to a Chartered College of Teaching snap poll said the advance revision aid information provided by exam boards will not be enough to help those most negatively affected by Covid disruption over the past two years.
Recent data from FFT Education Datalab revealed that disadvantaged students had missed an average of eight weeks of school since they started Year 10 in autumn 2020 - on top of the two months they were learning remotely when schools were closed in early 2021.
The figures, revealed by Tes, also exposed regional disparities in absence rates for the current GCSE exam cohort: Year 11 students in the northern regions missed around 15 per cent of school sessions, compared with around 11 per cent in the South.
The Chartered College poll also reveals that teachers are concerned that plans for exams this year could further widen the attainment gap, and say the exam advance information arrived too late to help students.
Last month exam boards published advance information to help focus study ahead of exams for students whose learning has been disrupted in subjects including maths, sciences, English, history and geography, but without providing exact questions that will appear.
GCSE exams 2022: Fears over different levels of Covid disruption
Ofqual also said examiners will be asked to be more generous than during pre-pandemic exams when setting grade boundaries to account for disruption.
However, exam experts, headteachers and teachers’ leaders warned of fears that the move will not be enough to ensure fairness amid evidence that students have experienced varying levels of disruption to their learning over the past two years.
Before exams were cancelled last year, Ofqual and the Department for Education proposed using an asterisk next to the grades of those students whose results were most affected by Covid.
However, the plan was dropped when exams were replaced by teacher-assessed grades last summer, and a process to mitigate for the varied impact of Covid on students in different parts of the country and contrasting backgrounds has not been suggested for students sitting GCSEs and A levels in 2022.
Dame Alison Peacock, CEO of the Chartered College, said: “Covid-19 will not disappear overnight, and schools are still being affected. We must be doing everything in our power to set young people up for success.
“As part of that, we want to see that those in education are supported as much as possible. This includes being provided with the resources to directly support those students most adversely affected.”
Dame Alison said she has met with Ofqual to discuss the exam advance information and says plans are underway to organise a meeting with Chartered College members to expand on the guidance.
She added: “The pandemic has significantly impacted the education sector, bringing additional complications to teaching and learning. Throughout, the profession has shown incredible flexibility. Teachers and leaders continue to do everything possible to deliver the best possible education.”
Tim Oates, research director at exam board Cambridge Assessment, agreed that students “heavily weighed down” by Covid would need “highly personalised” support.
”Advance information, careful preparation of papers, and management of standards are sensible, sound policies that will ensure most students can progress with their lives this summer,” he said.
“But we know there will also be students who still are heavily weighed down by the effects of the pandemic and will need highly personalised care, support and guidance from their teachers and families.”
More than 650 teachers responded to the poll, which was carried out after the release of exam advance information on 7 February.
One teacher said the benefits of advance information would “be more clearly emphasised in schools with more resources in terms of time, expense, staffing and contact time”.
Another said it would “not help the disadvantaged much”.
“I think they help the students with access to tutors, as well as those that have strong support and self-regulation,” they said.
“The most advantaged will have resources and facilities to make huge gains by having advanced knowledge, whereas the least advantaged, still struggling to catch up, will end up further behind.”
Members also shared their concerns about student and staff absence, with one saying: “As a teacher and as a parent, little regard has been given to the amount of learning these children have missed. Even this year, my children have had numerous absences because of Covid or their teachers have been absent.”
One teacher said the advance information had come “too late” and raised concerns about student motivation, saying students “will disengage in lessons they see as not relevant”.
School leaders were urged this week to sign up to the government’s National Tutoring Programme to ensure that exam students have access to support.
In an email to heads, the DfE said the second half of the spring term is a “crucial time” for Year 11 and 13 students and schools should sign up to the NTP “as soon as possible so your pupils can receive this help alongside pupils already receiving tutoring in other schools”.
A DfE spokesperson said: “We know students have faced challenges during the pandemic, which is why we’ve put fairness for them at the forefront of our plans. Unprecedented support is being given to this year’s exam cohorts, and advance information is just one part of that.
“Students have information on the focus of exams to help their revision, choices of topics in some other subjects, equation and formulae sheets in GCSE maths and science, as well as a more generous approach to grading.
“Exams are the best and fairest form of assessment, and we firmly intend for them to take place this summer.”
Ofqual said the advance information “will help students focus their revision and is intended to make the exams less daunting.”
The exams regulator also said grading will be “more generous than 2019” when exams were last taken.
Exams start on May 16 and run through until June 28.
