2021 exams cancelled

10/11/20

Education Minister, Kirsty Williams has today announced (10/11/20) that there will be no end of year exams for learners taking GCSEs, AS levels or A levels. Instead, grades will be based on teacher-managed external assessments and controlled assessments.

The Minister said Welsh Government would work with teachers to take forward teacher-managed assessments and that they should include assessments that will be externally set and marked, but delivered within a classroom environment under teacher supervision. Teachers would have flexibility when it is best to undertake them, starting in the second half of the spring term.

As a school, we have not received more information than what has been released in the press today, and we have many unanswered questions, such as:

• What will be the nature of the assessment tasks? Will they concentrate on certain elements of the course or cover everything? Will we have a choice of assessment tasks? How many will be required for each subject?
• What consideration will be given to the standard of classwork and internal test and assessment completed in class?
• How much will coursework or practical work contribute to each grade?
• Will there be external exams in January?
• What will be the arrangements for year 10 and 12 pupils? Will they be similar to 2020? Will they be required to complete the external assessments?
• How will grades for vocational courses be awarded?

The Education Minister announced that the intention is for these matters to be discussed during December and that detailed guidelines and material would be sent to schools early in the spring term. As a school, we will be pressing for further guidance in order to allow us to plan internal assessment, set coursework deadlines and arrange mock exams as soon as possible.

Tomorrow, we will share this information with year 11 pupils and give them the opportunity to ask questions. Mrs Stanford will speak to everyone in the sixth form. We will, of course, update both pupils and parents as more information is provided by the government and by the WJEC examination board. In the meantime we shall continue to deliver the revised specifications and ensure the highest standard of teaching and learning.