Headteachers say pupils must NOT be forced to sit ‘mini-exams’ this summer

Pupils should not be forced to take ‘mini-exams’ this summer and teachers should award grades based on a combination of coursework, mock exams and teacher assessments, a headteachers’ union has said.

It argued that this would help teachers with their grading judgements after this summer’s GCSE and A-level exams were cancelled, and to avoid a repeat of the grading and exam chaos seen in the summer of 2020.

The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) is calling for headteachers to be given flexibility on how they use external papers or questions from exam boards when assessing students’ performance.

Students who have suffered the most disruption may find themselves ‘doubly disadvantaged’ if a set of mandatory assessments are adopted in England’s schools and colleges, according to the leader of ASCL.

Headteachers in England have warned against students taking ‘mini exams’ this summer and that grades should be awarded based on a combination of coursework, mock exams and teacher assessments

The warning comes as the consultation by Ofqual and the Department for Education (DfE), on how A-level and GCSE students will be awarded grades after this summer’s exams were cancelled, is closing.

Under the proposals, exam boards would make a set of papers available to schools – with questions similar in style and format to those in normal exam papers – which teachers would mark to inform their assessments.

The consultation seeks views on what form papers should take, when they should be made available, and whether their use should be mandated.

The Education Policy Institute has called for the papers to be ‘a universal requirement’ to help assure students and parents that grading is fair.

The think tank has warned that there are ‘serious risks’ to the credibility of the assessment if the test papers are voluntary, or if they are taken at different times or not under normal exam conditions.

But in its response to the consultation, ASCL has urged for the assessments not to be treated as ‘mini-exams’ and they say they should not be mandatory.

Pupils should have the RIGHT to repeat academic year because lockdown will leave them ‘scarred for life’ by exam grades

Pupils in England who have lost out on significant learning time as a result of the cycle of coronavirus lockdowns should be allowed to repeat an academic year, a think-tank has urged.

The Education Policy Institution is calling on the government to consider allowing students to repeat a year of education, where this is supported by parents, to tackle extreme cases of learning loss.

It adds that there is a risk of inconsistency and unfairness of grading between different schools and colleges, and between students, as well as a risk of significant grade inflation this year.

However, it said that this policy would only help a minority of pupils across the country and called on the government to ‘focus on a much bigger and targeted package for the thousands of pupils who have lost learning through no fault of their own’.

Though headteachers expressed interest in the idea, they said the scheme could only be open to ‘small numbers’ to avoid a ‘logjam’, after Boris Johnson announced schools would stay shut until at least March 8.  

Other teachers warned that thousands of pupils in England could be ‘scarred for the rest of their lives’ as a result of mass disruption to their education caused by government pandemic action.  

The warning comes as the consultation by Ofqual and the Department for Education (DfE), on how A-level and GCSE students will be awarded grades after this summer’s exams were cancelled, is closing. 

The grading of students became a fiasco last summer when exams were cancelled amid school closures, as thousands of A-level students had their results downgraded from school estimates by an algorithm before Ofqual announced a U-turn, allowing them to use teachers’ predictions.  

It says schools and colleges should be encouraged to ask students to undertake these papers or questions under reasonably controlled conditions if possible – but there should be ‘no expectation that students come to these tasks unseen, or that all students sit them at the same time’.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the ASCL, said: ‘We understand that some people will argue that there should be a set of mandatory assessments because this will provide greater consistency.

‘However, there is a danger of replicating the very problems that drove the decision to scrap exams in the first place – namely, the fact that students who have suffered the most disruption may find themselves doubly disadvantaged by papers they cannot answer.

‘Many of us have mulled over this dilemma for some time, but the Prime Minister’s announcement on Wednesday extending the period of lockdown restrictions, swung the pendulum firmly in favour of maximising flexibility.’

Students could receive their A-level and GCSE results by the start of July, rather than August, under the proposals unveiled by the exams regulator.

But ASCL is also calling for exam boards to release grades to students on the normal results days in August.

The joint consultation, which closes on Friday evening, has already received more than 90,000 responses.

Simon Lebus, interim chief regulator of Ofqual, has insisted that the externally set papers are not ‘exams by the back door’ amid concerns from students.

In a blog, published on Friday, he said: ‘I want to tackle one thing head on – the proposal to have externally-set papers or tasks to help teachers to assess their students objectively.

‘Some have called these ‘mini exams’. This is not what we’ve proposed.’

The Ofqual chief regulator added: ‘Teachers could use performance on a paper as just one source of evidence to determine a student’s grade.

‘Other sources of evidence could include mock exam results, internal assessments or work already completed.’

Mr Lebus concluded: ‘I hope this explanation goes some way to allay concerns that some students have expressed to us – that these are exams by the back door. They are not.

‘But an externally-set task would help teachers by providing them with an external reference point, giving them greater confidence in the grade they were awarding.’

The call from headteachers comes as Boris Johnson announced schools would stay shut until at least March 8, even overruling Education Secretary Gavin Williamson (pictured) who wanted pupils to return at the end of February

The call from headteachers comes as Boris Johnson announced schools would stay shut until at least March 8, even overruling Education Secretary Gavin Williamson (pictured) who wanted pupils to return at the end of February

Last year, all 2020 secondary education examinations were cancelled due to the pandemic leading to an alternative method of determining qualification grades for students to be quickly designed and implemented. 

In June 2020, a grade standardisation algorithm was produced by education regulator Ofqual in England, Qualifications Wales in Wales, Scottish Qualifications Authority in Scotland, and CCEA in Northern Ireland.

The objective behind the algorithm was to limit grade inflation and was used in an attempt to moderate predicted grades given by teachers to A-Level and GCSE students.

But when A-level grades were announced, the government faces huge public outcry particularly over how the algorithm appeared to downgrade the results of students who attended state schools while upgrading those who attended private schools.

This, as a result, was seen to be disadvantaging those who came from a lower socio-economic background, an effect of the algorithm attributed in part to its behaviour towards smaller groups.

With schools closed due to the pandemic, students have been learning remotely from home. Pictured: Ollie Wilson, 18, continues with his Art and Design level 3 diploma from home, as the City and Islington college remains closed for most students, on January 28, 2021

With schools closed due to the pandemic, students have been learning remotely from home. Pictured: Ollie Wilson, 18, continues with his Art and Design level 3 diploma from home, as the City and Islington college remains closed for most students, on January 28, 2021

Facing calls to scrap the algorithm, the government in England initially refused to budge, with education secretary Gavin Williamson saying on August 15 that the system was there to stay, and that there would be ‘no U-turn, to change’.

Scottish ministers had U-turned on the algorithm a week earlier, with Williamson saying that awarding unmoderated grades would be ‘unwise’ and cause ‘rampant grade inflation’ and instead suggesting schools appeal on behalf of students.

Two days after his comments, however, Williamson and Ofqual U-turned, and agreed that grades would be re-issued using unmoderated teacher predictions. 

As a result of their decision, there was an annual increase of more than 10 percent of top grades awarded, but biggest increase for at least 20 years.

In the fallout from the chaos, Sally Collier resigned from the position of chief regulator of Ofqual on August 25, and was followed with the resignation of Permanent Secretary Jonathan Slater, the most senior civil servant at the Department for Education (DfE).

The government was accused of scapegoating civil servants to avoid accountability. 

It comes days after the UK passed the grim milestone of 100,000 Covid-related deaths

It comes days after the UK passed the grim milestone of 100,000 Covid-related deaths

The call from headteachers comes as Boris Johnson announced schools would stay shut until at least March 8, even overruling Education Secretary Gavin Williamson who wanted pupils to return at the end of February.

As he finally put an end to weeks of speculation and wrangling by announcing schools would not reopen until at least March 8, Mr Johnson this week conceded to fellow MPs that the closures were having a ‘huge impact’ on the education of millions of pupils.

In a bid to mitigate against further damage by extending the current school closures beyond half-term, Mr Johnson yesterday announced a £300million support package. The money, he said, would be used to help fund targeted tuition.

Last night it emerged the decision to extend school closures was one pushed through by Mr Johnson himself, amid a split in his cabinet. Pictured: Johnson announces that schools would stay closed until at least March 8 during a Downing Street press conference on January 27

Last night it emerged the decision to extend school closures was one pushed through by Mr Johnson himself, amid a split in his cabinet. Pictured: Johnson announces that schools would stay closed until at least March 8 during a Downing Street press conference on January 27

However last night it emerged the decision to extend school closures was one pushed through by Mr Johnson himself, amid a split in his cabinet.

According to the Times, Mr Williamson had wanted to reopen at the end of February – straight after half-term.

But Mr Johnson is said to have overruled him, insisting the continued closure of schools would ‘buy the extra weeks needed’ to vaccinate the UK’s most vulnerable residents. 

One source told the Times: ‘Gavin was pushing very hard. He wanted schools to reopen after February half-term and believed it could be done safely. But in the end the data on hospitalisations and infection rates won the argument.    

Dawn of the virtual parents’ evening: Teachers could hold Zoom chats with mothers and fathers rather than face-to-face meetings before pandemic 

Coronavirus could cause a permanent shift to virtual parents’ evenings after a teaching union described parents physically queueing to talk to teachers about their children as ‘Stalinist’.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, has suggested online parents’ evenings and governors’ meetings could become the new normal after the pandemic. 

The Covid crisis has seen a number of school events – including nativity plays and open evenings – become virtual, in a bid to reduce the number of interactions between pupils, parents and staff onsite.

Though millions of children and parents struggling to balance work and home-schooling are desperate for schools to reopen following months of closure, some unionists would like pandemic measures including virtual parents’ evenings to remain in place.

Mr Barton said: ‘There are some things which schools have traditionally done which they are now doing differently, which I think will become the norm.

‘Online parents’ meetings have been quite a hit with quite a lot of parents because instead of the days of queuing up as if you’re in Stalinist Soviet Union to get your five minutes with a teacher, actually having an appointment with that teacher and being able to talk to them about how your child’s done that has been really effective.

Coronavirus could cause a permanent shift to virtual parents' evenings after a teaching union described parents queueing to talk about their children's futures in person as 'Stalinist'

Coronavirus could cause a permanent shift to virtual parents’ evenings after a teaching union described parents queueing to talk about their children’s futures in person as ‘Stalinist’

‘I think there’s quite a lot of leaders who could see that as being part of a future mix where you are actually doing it through Zoom or Teams calls, or whatever it might be.’  

He added that virtual parents’ evenings have ensured that every family receives the same allocation of time and it has allowed parents to have ‘a more confidential conversation’ in the privacy of their own home.

Schools are likely to have a ‘more blended’ approach’ to learning in the future, Mr Barton said.

Sixth-formers could be given more flexibility to work from home if they are struggling to travel into school, while school consortiums could look to offer some A-level courses to pupils online, he added.

The proposals for how schools could look post-pandemic come as this week marks a year since the first coronavirus cases were reported in the UK, and the anniversary of the first known death in the country.

When secondary schools fully reopened in the autumn term, following the introduction of year-group ‘bubbles’, many headteachers reported good behaviour among pupils, according to Mr Barton. 

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, has suggested online parents' evenings and governors' meetings could become the new normal

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, has suggested online parents’ evenings and governors’ meetings could become the new normal

Matt Hood, chair of governors at Bay Leadership Academy in Morecambe, said the secondary school is considering keeping year groups in different zones of the school site to encourage calmer behaviour.

He said: ‘Previously it was organised in a way where pupils moved around a lot. Now it’s organised in a different way – pupils don’t move around a lot and teachers move around much more.

‘Those logistics changes mean we just don’t have this big disruption every hour in the day with 1,000 children moving around the site. We have a much more controlled, calm, school environment within the school day.

‘I think there’s lots of schools that have seen the benefit of that and might stick with it.’

Mr Hood added: ‘We may not keep the whole thing but there are certainly some features that we think are really helpful. 

‘Our lovely Year 7s are very much more like lovely Year 7s than by this time in the year when they have realised that maybe they’re going to turn into Year 8s or Year 9s.

‘It’s been lovely to keep them a bit younger for a little bit longer.

Virtual parents’ evenings are also on the list of changes that the school is looking to keep as participation rates have increased among families who may have previously struggled to attend the events in-person.

Mr Hood, principal of Oak National Academy, a government-backed virtual school set up amid Covid-19, said: ‘Some parents are nervous about coming into school. They didn’t have a great experience. They don’t really like it.

‘This is something that I think the odd school may have experimented with in the past, but I suspect will be a much more wholesale change.’