A full autumn exam series would be a “costly and unnecessary diversion for students, centres and awarding organisations”, the Association of Colleges has said.
In the AoC’s response to the Ofqual consultation on arrangements for an autumn 2021 exam series, the membership organisation said there was “even less” of a case for a 2021 full series than there was in 2020.
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The response said: “2021 will be the second year that a full autumn exam series has been proposed and our view remains that this is a costly and unnecessary diversion for students, centres and awarding organisations.
“Given the arrangements being put in place to grade all candidates, including private candidates, this summer, there is even less of a case for an autumn series in 2021 than there was in 2020.
‘Less of a case’ for a full autumn GCSE exam series in 2021
“The 2020 autumn series attracted 1 per cent of GCSE summer entries and 2 per cent of summer A-level entries, with some national subject entries having fewer than 100 entries. This is a very poor use of resources and where students do choose to enter, it could distract from their studies in the 2021-22 academic year. We are also concerned that it may serve to widen achievement gaps as more advantaged students may be coached or tutored for autumn series exams.”
It added: “The traditional GCSE English and maths November session, which attracts a large entry, should not be disrupted to accommodate the smaller and more extended exceptional new autumn series, which will attract far fewer entries.”
2021 will be the second year with a full autumn exam series. The case weaker this year and we think it’s costly and unnecessary. It will require staffing, accommodation, administrative & organizational resources at a time of great pressure when the focus is on teaching. (2/5)
- Eddie Playfair (@eddieplayfair) April 9, 2021
It could distract from students’ studies in 2021/22 and is expensive and disruptive for awarding organisations and centres. Not a great use of resources and it won’t fully recover costs, meaning centres which don’t use it will still have to help pay for it. (4/5)
- Eddie Playfair (@eddieplayfair) April 9, 2021
It could also widen achievement gaps if more advantaged students are coached or tutored to improve their grade in autumn series exams.
Not running an additional autumn series could allow all the savings from Summer 2021 to be returned to centres as a rebate. (5/5)
- Eddie Playfair (@eddieplayfair) April 9, 2021
In March, Ofqual opened its consultation on whether or not to hold a full autumn exam series for GCSEs and A levels.
Proposals included no advance topics given to students, opening the exams up to all students - including those without a teacher-assessed grade - and marking students on their exam, not their coursework.
Other suggestions included allowing students to carry forward grades for spoken language and science practicals and holding AS- and A-level exams in October and GCSE exams in November and early December.
An Ofqual spokesperson said: “We are grateful to the AoC, and to all who have responded to our consultation. The consultation closes today and we will say more about how we intend to proceed in the next few weeks.”
