Things are certainly very...exam-focused at the moment. But, as we grapple with the current issues of Years 11 and 13, there is another cloud looming on the horizon: the question of what the Department of Education is planning for next year’s exam cohort.

It doesn’t seem like there are any answers yet. And I’m worried for Year 12.

Last March, the students who are now in Year 12 suddenly discovered that they wouldn’t be doing their GCSEs. They have sat no standardised tests throughout their time in secondary school. 

There are, of course, arguments for and against standardised testing, but the system we currently have relies on it. Students use it to help them make choices - we often see students change their minds about which A-level options they’ll take in the light of their GCSE results. 

GCSE and A-level exams 2022: Lost teaching time

While this year’s Year 12 did indeed get GCSE results, they were not the same as in other years, and the long-term impact of this remains to be seen. Meanwhile, they are now in the position of having to take high-stakes standardised exams next summer, with little previous practice or experience. This needs to be remembered and supported. 

The current Year 11 and Year 13 saw changes made to some of their exam specifications in the light of the school closures this year. The helpfulness of this varied subject to subject, and, in many cases, the information came too late to be of practical use. (The only text we still had left to teach for GCSE English in my school was the one that is compulsory at GCSE level).

So far, there has been no mention even of a consultation for the current Years 10 and 12. 

Both these year groups also lost teaching time during the first lockdown. Their return to school in September was also not without incident. Many students throughout the country saw their bubbles burst, and ended up self-isolating, often several times over.  My own school had to send the whole of Year 12 home for a period, and some students had more than one period of self-isolation. 

Of course, some parts of the country have been harder hit than others. But to say that the return to school was without disruption would be wrong. 

Year 12 need a plan, now

The second period of remote teaching has also had an impact. While everyone was better prepared for it second time around, that did not mean that everyone was able to access the provision in the same way. 

And even when 100 per cent remote attendance is achieved, it is clear that remote teaching and learning is not the same as face-to-face learning, and curriculum coverage has varied as a result. That’s before we even bring up the issue of writing by hand in timed conditions, for students with no recent experience of timed handwritten exams. 

Now that there is a (belated) plan in place for this year’s Years 11 and 13, Ofqual and the Department for Education need to start looking ahead. If we are to avoid a third year of confusion and anxiety for teachers and students, they need to open consultations and start planning now. 

Schools and students need to know what the plan is for next year’s exam content before the summer holidays, not in September. This will help us to structure support, including summer schools. A degree of clarity will also help with the high levels of anxiety that some students are experiencing. 

However, it seems that everyone is so wrapped up in teacher-assessed grades and the many issues they present that the next year is being neglected - again. 

Unless this changes soon, we are in danger of sending another year group off to college and university ill-prepared for what follows. Given that we have been unable to offer many of the enrichment activities that schools would normally provide, we should at least be in a position to best support them academically. 

Ofqual needs to ensure that the exam boards and schools are presented with this information in a more timely manner than last year - even if that information is, as some suspect, that there will be no accommodations for the current Year 10s and 12s. 

We need to know so that we are working on the right things with our students. And we need to know soon. 

Heidi Drake is deputy head of English at Colchester Royal Grammar School