Exams in 2022

GCSEs and A levels 2022: How exams will run next summer

The government has set out how exams will run this year - and what will happen if they are scrapped again. The Times Educational Supplement (TES), this week published a guide for teachers.

Could exams be cancelled next year? The government has made it clear again today that it is “firmly committed to exams going ahead in summer 2022.” The TES however noted that not so very long ago it had also been committed to the idea of exams going ahead in the summer 2021 For 2022 exams going ahead remains plan A but this time the government has a plan B.

How will exams take Covid disruption into account? After a consultation run by Ofqual the government has confirmed that the following mitigations will be in place for next summer’s exams • Students taking GCSEs in English literature, history, ancient history and geography will not need to cover the usual range of content in the exams – the exam boards have published information on their websites on how this will work for each of their specifications in these subjects. • Students taking GCSEs in all other subjects will be given advance information about the focus of the content of the exams to support their revisio. • Students taking AS and A levels will be given advance information about the focus of the content of the exams to support their revision • Students taking GCSE mathematics will be given in their exams copies of formulae they would in other years have to memorise. • Students taking GCSE physics and combined science will be given in their exams a sheet covering all the equations they might need to apply in the exams.

Exam boards are also publishing formulae and equation sheets to help students in GCSE maths and some GCSE science exams, giving students time to familiarise themselves with them before exams.

When will students get advance material of exam topics? The Department for Education has said that advance information for GCSE and AS and A levels will be published no later than 7 February 2022. It will give at least a week’s notice if it decides exam boards should publish the information before that date. What happens if exams are cancelled again? If the government does decide to cancel exams, then it plans to use teacher assessed grades (TAGs) again as in 2021. The government announced that if exams are cancelled the Secretary of State would set out to Ofqual the government’s policy on how TAGs should be used to determine grades in the summer of 2022.

How will schools be expected to gather evidence for teacher assessed grades? Schools have been told to assess pupils in exam-like conditions to provide evidence for TAGs just in case Covid leads to exams being cancelled in 2022. This says that schools should plan assessment opportunities to a timetable that secures evidence which could be used to inform TAGs. In order to build up evidence for these grades, schools have been told students sitting GCSEs, AS and A levels and the Advanced Extension Award should be assessed under examlike conditions wherever possible. Although it says this could be done in the classroom rather than an exam hall. The advice given is that students should not know the questions in the assessment beforehand. They should work independently and without assistance (other than as required for a reasonable adjustment) Plus they should not have access to books or revision notes and the assessment should be timed and supervised. This in short means that TAGs should be evidenced in old exam conditions.

The government have also said schools do not need to start working out TAGs unless it is announced that exams are cancelled.

What else do school leaders need now? Heads have welcomed schools having a contingency plan in place. Julie McCulloch the director of policy at the Association of School and College Leaders told the TES that not to have one “would risk a repeat of the chaos of the past two years.” But she has called on schools to now be given more support to minimise the workload around carrying out exam style assessments to ensure schools have evidence for TAGs. She said: “This plan will mean considerable workload for schools and colleges. To mitigate the additional workload, the exam boards should produce banks of assessment questions that can be used flexibly by schools and colleges to construct exam-style papers.” n

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