Schools have been told to assess students in “exam-like conditions” to ensure evidence for teacher-assessed grades (TAGs) is produced fairly in case next summer’s GCSEs and A levels are scrapped for the third year in a row.

New guidance, published today, says that schools should plan assessment opportunities to secure evidence that can be used to inform TAGs - and that such assessments should take place as early as this term.

The government has insisted today that it is “firmly committed to exams going ahead in summer 2022”.  

However, it is putting contingency plans in place for “the unlikely event that exams have to be cancelled again because of the pandemic”.

GCSEs 2022: How exams will operate next year

Ofqual: Consultation on using simpler language in exams

Background: The story behind teacher-assessed grades

Exams have been cancelled for the past two years. The most recent cancellation was announced in January this year, at the start of a new national lockdown and with no back-up plan in place.

After a consultation, the Department for Education and Ofqual have decided to use TAGs as a back-up plan in 2022, as was the case this summer.

To build up evidence for these grades, schools have been told that students sitting GCSEs, AS and A levels and the Advanced Extension Award should be assessed “under exam-like conditions wherever possible”, although it also says this could be done in a classroom rather than an exam hall.

Headteachers have said that it is “ridiculous” that this guidance is only being published now and warned that it will mean extra pressure for schools, but have welcomed clarity being provided.

 The guidance says that when students are being assessed, they:

• should not know the questions in the assessment beforehand.
• should work independently and without assistance (other than as required for a reasonable adjustment).
• should not have access to books or revision notes and the assessment should be timed and supervised.

The DfE said this will “both help to ensure that the work is authentic and prepare students for exams in the summer”.

The guidance adds: “Wherever possible, a centre must either assess all of its students who are taking a particular qualification using the same material at the same time or using different materials at different times. There is otherwise a risk that students who are assessed at a later time will know the questions they will be asked, which would be unfair.” 

Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi said: “Exams are the best and fairest form of assessment, and we fully intend for them to take place next summer. Planning is underway for exams to go ahead with adaptations to recognise the impact of the pandemic.

“But it’s right, and I know schools and families would expect, that we have contingency plans in place so there is a safety net for students to gain their qualifications and progress to their next stage of education or employment, whatever the course of the pandemic.

Ofqual’s chief regulator Jo Saxton said: “Students have shown so much resilience in the face of the pandemic.

“The back-up plans announced today incorporate their feedback, and that of their teachers, and mean students don’t need to worry about the ‘what if?’. They can concentrate on what really matters - studying and revising - as they prepare to show what they know and can do.”

‘It is ridiculous that it has taken so long’

Julie McCulloch, director of policy at the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Schools and colleges will be relieved to at last have certainty over the back-up plan in case exams cannot go ahead next summer, but it is ridiculous that it has taken so long for the government to confirm these arrangements.

“Teachers and students deserved to know what to expect much earlier and there is no reason why this could not have been sorted out before term began in September. But here we are, more than halfway through the autumn term before the machinery of government has managed to creak its way to a conclusion.

“These plans involve students having to sit a series of mock exams which may or may not count towards their final grades, as well as then probably having to take formal exams next summer. This is far from ideal and places them under a great deal of pressure. But not having a contingency plan would risk a repeat of the chaos of the past two years, and therefore, on balance, this seems like the right course of action and the confirmed set of measures appear to be sensible enough.”

Sarah Hannafin, senior policy advisor for school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “NAHT welcomes the publication today of decisions on contingency plans for 2022. Although confirmation has come later than hoped, this guidance should help to avoid a repeat of the intense pressures for teachers and school leaders in summer 2021.

“The published contingency assessments guidance highlights that in most schools and colleges, assessments to support students’ learning will already be planned over the course of the academic year.

“We agree that centres should use existing assessment opportunities so that the collection of evidence to support awarding in the event that exams are cancelled works alongside the teaching, learning and assessment which teachers have planned for this year. Those assessment opportunities might need to be tweaked to ensure they align with the other points of guidance, for example, the conditions under which they are sat, the use of exam-style questions and the provision of reasonable adjustments.

“But there is no expectation that additional assessments should be taken by students only for the purpose of providing evidence for TAGs. This would create significant additional workload for teachers and add pressure to students who are working hard to complete their courses, detracting from teaching and learning and using up valuable lesson time.”