What will replace gcse

But this year the regulator will not use an algorithm to standardise teachers' estimated grades if they appear more generous than they should be. The DfE said schools and colleges will conduct multiple checks - such as on the consistency of judgements across teachers and that the correct processes are followed - to ensure as much fairness as possible.

Exam boards will also conduct their own checks through a combination of random sampling and more targeted scrutiny. Mr Williamson said: "Young people have shown incredible resilience over the last year, continuing with their learning amidst unprecedented challenges while the country battles with this pandemic.

Those efforts deserve to be fairly rewarded. Jump directly to the content. Sign in. Catch up on the latest news impacting schools - in the age of covid Email address is invalid Thank you for subscribing! Sorry, there was a problem. More from News. Long Reads The secret court case 50 years ago that robbed transgender people of their rights ever since. UK Care home bosses fear they won't be able to replace staff sacked for refusing covid jabs. Question papers, which could be from previous exams, will be sent to schools before the Easter holidays and can be taken before 18 June, when schools have to submit grades to exam boards.

The intention is that regardless of how much time pupils might have missed out of school, they will have questions on a topic they will have studied. These tests will be taken in class rather than exam halls, there is no fixed time limit for their duration and they will be marked by teachers. There will be no fixed share of grades - and schools will not be expected to keep in line with last year's results or any earlier year. Instead teachers will be expected to award grades based on their professional judgement, drawing on whatever evidence is available.

Schools will be given detailed information about grading and will be expected to ensure consistency between teachers. Exam boards will check random samples and if there are specific concerns about unusual results, they can investigate and change grades. Teachers' grades will be used to replace written vocational exams, in the same way as GCSEs and A-levels. But where there are practical, hands-on skills to be tested, such as for a professional qualification, some of these exams will continue in a Covid-safe way.

The results of some vocational qualifications will be released in the week of 9 August. Caitlyn in Wigan, aged 15, is taking nine GCSEs and has been studying at home where it's hard to concentrate and the wi-fi keeps crashing. She is glad she won't have to sit exams. The mock exams she sat in November she found particularly hard.

He says learning from home was "in a way better for me, so I could concentrate and there was no-one to distract me".

Although he did miss the support of teachers when he got stuck. Kori feels the assessments, the so-called "mini exams", that will be offered "are going to be better for me". Although he worries all the pupils this year might be judged unfairly because they didn't sit the full exams. The Education Policy Institute warned of a "high risk of inconsistencies" between schools - and if there are large numbers of successful appeals or widespread grade inflation it could be difficult for universities and employers to distinguish between applicants.

To help with this process we need to create the schools equivalent of The Open University: The Open School, able to deliver courses, resources through schools and teachers and to provide a means that revolutionises monitoring, assessment, reporting and examining. Such a system can function in normal times, would be well suited to blended learning and can step up in lockdown. Time also to change ks3 Lower Secondary School learning and to ditch the downward percolation of the GCSE straightjacket and build on the creativity and practices found in the best Primary and Junior schools.

Breaking out of the subject silos at ks3 and moving into an integrated STEaMplus mode of interdisciplinary project based learning would help solve this problem. I cannot stress enough the damage this method will do to our children. Having spent 8 years working in a secondary school I find this frightening. The amount of cheating I saw by teachers and headmasters to get the school a good reputation was beyond belief.

Some students sat listening to music whilst their assessments were being written for them. Others had so many notes given to them they only needed to copy them.