Detailed information about how students will be assessed for this summer’s GCSEs and A-levels won’t be published until next week, the exams regulator has said.
But schools and colleges will have to wait longer for details of how moderation and appeals will work.
Ofqual said it was “rapidly working up plans” to implement the arrangements announced by the government last week.
Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, announced last Wednesday that exams this summer would be cancelled. On Friday, the government said students would instead be assessed by their teachers. Schools and colleges have been awaiting further details since then.
“Students understandably want reassurance, and teachers urgently need to know what to do, and when,” said Ofqual in a statement.
“We expect to publish detailed information about the process and timetable which will apply this summer next week.”
Next week’s release will cover the steps teachers and lecturers will have to follow and “more detailed guidance on how to consider the full range of evidence they will have available when submitting their assessment grades”.
“We are talking to teaching representatives to make sure that what we are planning is manageable and appropriate, so that students, parents, carers and teachers can have confidence in the approach.”
Ofqual has also pledged to outline “by Easter” the process it will follow to make sure grades are fair across schools and colleges, as well as its proposals for appeals.
“We will also say more as soon as possible about the arrangements for additional exams in the new academic year,” the regulator said.
“We want to reassure students waiting for news that we are doing everything we can to make sure they are not disadvantaged by these unprecedented circumstances.“
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