GCSE, AS and A-level marks will drop in England next year, exams regulator Ofqual has confirmed.
They will be “much closer” to pre-pandemic levels after three years of adjustments, Dr. Jo Saxton, the supreme regulator.
However, students’ grades will be ‘protected’ from the disruption caused by Covid.
Schools have welcomed the announcement but there are concerns that disadvantaged students could lose out.
Exams were canceled in 2020 and 2021, and teacher-graded grades led to a boom in top grades.
This year’s grading system has been adjusted so that grades reflect a “halfway point” between 2019 and 2021. Similar plans have been implemented in Northern Ireland and Wales.
- GCSE scores show a growing regional divide in England
- Abitur top grades fall in the first exams since Covid
dr Saxton said a return to pre-pandemic classification next year is “the next step in returning to normal.”
School closures in the 2020 and 2021 lockdowns did not directly impact the courses of most students undertaking GCSE and Baccalaureate next year.
But they impacted these students earlier in their school life – and many will have experienced further disruption over the past year due to Covid.
To counteract this disorder, Dr. Saxton said students taking exams in 2023 “are protected… if their exam performance is slightly lower than before the pandemic.”
The grade limits are informed by “grades achieved by cohorts of students in the years leading up to the pandemic, along with past performance data,” she said.
“Broadly speaking, then, a typical student who would have gotten an A in geography before the pandemic, is just as likely to get an A next summer, even if his performance on the 2023 assessments is slightly weaker than it would have been before the pandemic .”
Students will no longer have pre-exam content information, but those taking GCSE math, physics and combined sciences will still have formulas and equation sheets.
The Association of School and College Leaders welcomed what it called a “safety net” to “ensure grades don’t fall lower” than scores in 2019.
The NAHT union said the announcement “acknowledges” that students taking exams next year have experienced disruption and said the moves should “create fairness” across all grades.
However, it is concerned about “individuals who have been subjected to more disruption than others”.
This concern was echoed by the Education Policy Institute, which stressed that “disadvantaged pupils” and pupils in the north of England had “suffered major learning losses” during Covid.
The Department for Education and Ofqual will issue guidance for schools on how to collect assessment evidence, just in case students are ever unable to take exams.
This summer, 73.2% of GCSEs in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were graded 4/C and above, compared with 67.3% in 2019 and 77.1% in 2021.
At A level, approximately 36.4% of enrollments were rated A* and A, compared to 25.4% in 2019 and 44.8% in 2021.
Education Secretary Kit Malthouse said students “expect fairness in exams and grading arrangements, which is why we are returning to pre-pandemic normalcy”.
Add Comment