With thousands of pupils nervously awaiting their A-levels results, Wales’ Head of Examination Board is confident they will get fair marks.
WJEC chief Ian Morgan said the exams were fair and teenagers were getting the result they deserved.
The results of the first summer exams in three years will be announced on Thursday.
They were canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid and students received grades set by teachers.
Watchdog Qualifications Wales said it expects this year’s Welsh results to be lower than 2021 but higher than the last exams in 2019.
The grading by the teachers led to “grade inflation”. The 2022 system will attempt to bridge 2021 with a “normal” grading in 2019.
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In 2021, the number of students achieving an A or A* reached 48.3%. In the last exams in 2019, it was still 27%.
Mr Morgan recognized that some learners would be challenged this year but believed exams were the fairest approach.
He said: “I am absolutely confident that this testing route will give learners the best opportunity to ensure they are able to show what they know and what they understand, what they can do and that their grades reflect that as a result for you.” .”
Education unions highlighted the ongoing disruption to staff and students during exam season caused by Covid.
And concerns about some exam papers have been raised by teachers, parents and students.
The WJEC denied that questions fell outside of the parameters they set.
Students Morgan and Bethan shared their fears as they awaited the results of their high school exams.
The 18-year-olds are both students at Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bro Edern in Cardiff.
Morgan said he’s coped with “the fear of the unknown.”
He said: “It’s just not knowing what to expect, especially with all the complications that Covid has caused.
“We don’t really know what it’s going to be like because we’ve never had that experience before.”
He believed that social media had a negative effect on him.
“You saw everyone on social media and TikTok saying, ‘The exams went horribly,’ or ‘I’m not ready yet,'” he said.
“You see a lot of different things, so you think, ‘Maybe I wasn’t ready’.”
Bethan found the pressure made it difficult to rework.
She said: “I was struggling to get things done because I was very worried about what my grades would be and how the exams would go.”
“It’s pretty nerve wracking. After years of not taking exams, it came as a shock to the system. I just hope they went well.”
Qualifications Wales wrote in a blog that “aside from a few bumps that are sadly inevitable in a system as complex as public exams, things have generally been going well”.
WJEC is “confident and pleased” with the qualifications, Mr Morgan added.
Exams had to contain exam questions, he said.
Gareth Evans, director of education policy at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David’s, said concessions had been made to ensure young people were not disadvantaged.
The academic said: “In some subjects the content has been significantly reduced, students have been informed in advance of what will be included in some exams.
“Moreover, the grading this year is much more generous than previous years to reflect the fact that Covid has reared its ugly head again from time to time and students have been disturbed.”
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