The government and Ofqual have published a consultation on plan B should GCSE and A-level exams have to be cancelled next year.

While the government is confident exams will go ahead, they have published contingency plans after facing fierce criticism for not doing so last year and being caught out when exams were cancelled after the Alpha variant caused a surge in cases.

The consultation outlines that teacher assessed grades would be used again this year should exams be cancelled.

However schools and colleges are being asked to collect evidence throughout the year, with guidance on how internal assessments should be run, just in case.

The consultation adds that “assessing students in line with the proposed guidance would also support students preparing for the exams we expect them to take next summer”.

DfE and the exams watchdog are now seeking views on the guidance. The consultation closes on October 13.

Here’s what you need to know…

Gap between exams to help stop disruption

Before any plan B is implemented, the government wants to take further mitigation for students next summer. 

As well as the optionality and advanced notice adaptations, exam boards have been asked to ensure there is at least a 10-day gap between exams in the same subject. This is to reduce the risk of students missing all exams in a subject. 

Students who miss one or more exams in a subject will still be able to get a grade through the special consideration process “so long as they have completed the assessment for at least one component of the qualifications”.

Colleges have been provided guidance on how to conduct exams safely, and have been given “general advice” on contingency planning from Ofqual. 

If new public health restrictions affect exams, the DfE will review its guidance and consider whether to put in place an Exams Support Service – as used in the 2020 and 2021 autumn series – to support centres with access to venues and invigilators. 

‘Tighter’ TAGs guidance if exams are scrapped

The government and Ofqual say “if, and only if” the mitigations are not sufficient to allow exams to proceed it will use TAGs to “maintain stability”. 

But they are proposing some changes to the 2021 system, which they admit had “significant workload implications for teachers”. 

They acknowledge the flexibility given to schools and colleges last year to collect evidence saw students in many centres “assessed multiple times in a short timeframe, reducing the already limited teaching time available”. 

Some students and teachers also “raised concerns that different approaches to gathering evidence were being taken in different schools and colleges, which they considered to be unfair”. 

So they think this “tighter guidance” will have advantages such as reducing teacher workload and student anxiety, as well as greater consistency between schools and colleges. That is …

Assess students once a term

In the draft guidance, colleges should plan “assessment opportunities” for TAGs in advance, and secure some evidence early in the academic year – so before Christmas. 

Teachers will want to “guard against the risk of over-assessment”, so a “sensible pattern” could be to plan to assess students once in the second half of the autumn term, the spring term and the first half of the summer term. 

The tests should allow students an opportunity to show their knowledge and understanding across the full range of content they have been taught. Teachers should also think about “specific assessment opportunities which would provide evidence from a significant proportion of the specification”. 

The tests will also help inform teaching and learning, the consultation says. Colleges should also support students to complete their non-examined assessments. 

Students to be told if test is for TAG

DfE and Ofqual say students should be told before they take the assessment that their performance in the assessment “would be used to inform their TAG if exams were cancelled to ensure they have time to prepare”. 

They should be told the aspects of the content the test will cover, but not the specific questions. 

Under the plans, students in the same cohort should be assessed using the same approach where possible and all the assessments taken should be used to determine the TAG – not just those in which students performed best. 

As in 2021, the centre will have to document the rationale when consistent evidence is not used for a whole class or cohort. Reasonable adjustments should be made where possible for disabled students. 

Teachers shouldn’t determine TAG until exams are cancelled

The consultation says teachers should mark work and carry out any internal standardisation of the marking, in line with exam board guidance where appropriate. 

Students can be provided the marks and feedback, but teachers “must not determine a TAG unless exams are cancelled nor tell their students what their TAG might be”. 

The original work should also be retained by teachers, and student can be given copies if it would help support their learning. 

‘Confidence of authenticity’ if tests can’t happen

Where disruption does not allow for assessments or coursework to be completed, colleges should arrange to collect evidence “that provides equivalent confidence of authenticity” and of “equivalent breadth” where possible.

If that’s not possible, centres may also need to collect evidence that is not based on such assessments for either a whole cohort or for individual students. Coursework can also be marked if partially completed. 

If this happens, colleges should record those decisions and the disruption experienced for inclusion in a centre policy. 

No extra exam board materials

DfE and Ofqual say that because exam boards provided past papers and test materials in 2021, they “do not believe” further material is necessary. 

But they are “interested in views” on any additional support the boards could provide to teachers if TAGs are needed. 

Exams would only be cancelled nationally

As in 2021, Ofqual proposes that a “national approach” should be taken to exam cancellation and contingency arrangements. 

They “recognise that regional differences” in the impact of the pandemic could potentially “make it easier or harder for exams” to take place in certain parts of the country than others. 

But they “believe that it would not be acceptable or command public confidence” to have difference approaches to awarding grades for the same qualifications. 

“It would not be possible to align the standards of grades awarded to some students who had taken exams with the TAGs determined by teachers, without the use of a standardisation approach of the type that proved unacceptable in 2020.” 

Private candidates should work with centres

If exams are cancelled private candidates wanting to get a TAG would need to make arrangements with a centre to complete the assessments in supervised conditions. 

DfE and Ofqual propose recommending these students discuss these arrangements with centres and take them into account when choosing where they want to register for exams.

Rather than having assessments spread out across the year, private candidates could undertake their assessments in a more concentrated period. 

Quality assurance and appeals same as 2021

The quality assurance and appeals processes appear to be largely similar to the 2021 process. 

The consultation proposes that colleges should only develop centre policies if exams are cancelled “to avoid diverting resources from other priorities”. The details of TAG quality assurance would be published after exams were cancelled. 

Centres would also have to submit evidence again – perhaps for more students than 2021, the plans say. 

It is envisaged that the same appeals process will be used, but as 2021 appeals are still ongoing “exam boards will want to ensure lessons are learned from that process”. 

Students sitting GCSEs and A-levels next summer will sit adapted exams and receive grades that are a “midway” point between last year and pre-pandemic 2019 results.

The government said a “transition” year before grades return to pre-pandemic levels in 2023 will “provide a safety net” for this year’s cohort “as well as a step back to normality”.

Ofqual has also confirmed today that adaptations such as optionality and advanced notice of exam content will be made to next summer’s exam series. 

The government is also set to publish contingency plans today should exams be cancelled again. A consultation will propose teacher-assessed grades are used, and that colleges will need to start collecting students’ work as evidence from after October half-term.

Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi said they have put “fairness at the heart” of their approach, listening to students, teachers and parents. 

New Ofqual chief regulator Dr Jo Saxton said the approach will “recognise the disruption experienced by students taking exams” this year. 

“It will provide a safety net for those who might otherwise just miss out on a higher grade, while taking a step back to normal,” she added.

The plans have also been welcomed by sector associations. Bill Watkin, chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association, said, “The DfE and Ofqual seem to have got this right, with the plan to reduce the content in some subjects and give advance notice of topics in other subjects, and with the decision to delay the return of grade boundaries to 2019 levels.”

Here’s what you need to know….

Grading ‘transition year’ as results return to normal in 2023

This year will act as a “transition year” to “reflect the recovery period”, Ofqual said. Grade boundaries will be set by exam boards at a “midway” point between 2021 and 2019, the last time exams were sat before the pandemic.

Grades are expected to return to normal by 2023. The approach will “provide a safety net for this year’s students as well as a step back to normality”, the government said.

Grade boundaries will be set by senior examiners after they have reviewed students’ work. 

While results will be higher than pre-pandemic exams, the exact position may vary by subject and grade because of a shift in entry profiles (for instance, more higher attainers taking a particular subject).

Top grades soared in the last two years where exams did not go ahead. The proportion of A-A*s at A-level rose from 25.2 per cent in 2019 to 44.3 per cent this summer. 

Meanwhile, at GCSE the proportion of grade 7s and above issued to 16-year-olds in England rose to 30 per cent this year, up from 27.5 per cent in 2020 and 21.8 per cent in 2019.

Autumn series results, including for GCSE English and maths resits, will be aligned to summer 2021 grading. 

This year’s A-level students will have not sat formal GCSE exams as they were cancelled and replaced with centre assessed grades in 2020.  

Optionality and advance notice confirmed

There will be a choice of topics in some GCSE exams this year, such as English literature and history.

Where there is not a choice of topics, advance information will be provided to help students target their revision. There will also be support materials like formulae sheets in maths. 

Advanced information will be released by February 7, before half term, but the timing will be kept “under review subject to the course of the pandemic” and can be brought forward. 

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said they remained concerned at the February date as it would “limit the desired impact”. 

“Providing this information sooner would help to reduce the differential impact of the pandemic on students so far,” he added.

The consultation on the plans, launched in July, had more than 6,000 responses. The government’s response is due to be published today, but is it expected to be largely the same as the proposals.

Colleges should start collecting plan B evidence this term

The government was lambasted for not having an “off-the-shelf” plan B ready for when exams were cancelled in January. But a two-week consultation is due to launch today outlining the DfE and Ofqual’s proposals. 

These are that if exams cannot go ahead next year – either because of further disruption or because of public health advice – teacher assessed grades will be used again. 

DfE and Ofqual say assessments that take place over the course of the year already – such as coursework and mocks – will make up the evidence base wherever possible. 

Colleges will be asked to start collecting this evidence from the second half of this term. 

Students will be told beforehand by their teacher if any work could contribute towards a TAG. Also the time that students spend in assessments this year will be limited so they take no longer than the total exam time for that subject. 

The department hopes that this will be less burdensome than last year and final guidance would be published after half term. There will be no cut off point on when the plan B can be implemented.

No decision has been made on the grading standards if TAGs are used. 

Whiteman said it is “vital” the evidence collection works “alongside the teaching, learning and assessment which teachers have planned for this year”.

“It should not create significant additional workload for teachers nor add pressure to students who are working hard to complete their courses,” he added.

‘Benefit of the doubt’ on UCAS grades

Ofqual recommends that teachers use the familiar 2019 standards as the basis for predicting students’ grades for UCAS. But borderline students should get the “benefit of any doubt”. 

This means if a student is likely to be on the borderline between two grades, they should predict the higher one. 

Ofqual said that in recent pre-pandemic years, overall grades have been “generously predicted” by teachers. 

Vocational and technical qualifications

The Education Policy Institute has said: “A chief concern of ours that is yet to be addressed by the government is the large gap between students taking academic and vocational qualifications.”

David Robinson, director of post-16 and skills at the institute warns: “Academic students saw far greater increases in their grades in 2020 and 2021 and may continue to do so under these plans. The government must take action and provide assurances to vocational students that they will not lose out under this system.”

Assessment arrangements for vocational and technical qualification have already been announced, but VTQ awarding organisations will be told to “take account” of the assessment approach taken for GCSEs and A-levels when setting their own standards so students are not disadvantaged.

The first cohort of T Level students are due to complete their qualifications in 2022. Guidance for those learners will say that should planned exams and assessments not be able to go ahead, TAGs will be used. However, practical competence assessments may need to be delayed under contingency arrangements.

Back to normal on results days 

This year, results days were held earlier and in the same week, two days apart. But these too are going back to normal. So, A-level results day is on August 18 and GCSE results day on August 25.