Ministers announce more generous grading and crib sheets to mitigate effects of pandemic for 2021 exam candidates

Pupils in England sitting GCSEs and A-levels in 2021 will get advance notice of topics and can take in exam aids including formula sheets, under plans announced by the Department for Education today.

The long-awaited proposals follow months of uncertainty for students whose education continues to be disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The government had already announced a three-week delay to next year’s exams.

Today’s guidance comes in “recognition of the challenges faced by students this year”. The government said it would:

• Give students advance notice of topics to focus revision, though it is not yet clear which topics or in which subjects
• Allow more generous grading “in line with national outcomes from 2020, so students this year are not disadvantaged”
• Give every subject “the same level of generosity so that the approach doesn’t advantage some students over others depending on their subject choice”
• Allow exam aids, such as formula sheets, in some exams to give students “more confidence” and to reduce the amount of information they need to memorise
• Offer additional exams as a second chance for students to sit a paper if they miss the main exam because of illness or self-isolation
• Allow a “validated teacher informed assessment” in extreme cases where a student has a “legitimate reason to miss all their papers” — but only once all chances to sit an exam have passed
• Allow “some adaptations to ensure parity” in vocational and technical qualifications
• Set up a new expert group to look at “differential learning and monitor the variation in the impact of the pandemic on students across the country”.

Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, said exams remained the best way of giving young people the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.

“I know students are facing unprecedented disruption to their learning. That’s why exams will be different next year, taking exceptional steps to ensure they are as fair as possible,” he said.

“I am determined to support students, parents and teachers in these unprecedented times and hope measures like more generous grading and advance notice of some topic areas will give young people the clarity and confidence they need to achieve every success.”

In primary schools, key stage 1 tests for seven-year-olds will be replaced by teacher assessment for a year. Key stage 2 tests, taken by pupils in Year 6, will go ahead, with some flexibility over timing, apart from the English grammar, punctuation and spelling test.

The government also confirmed that test and exam results would not be included in performance tables this year.