ASCL comment on plans for exams in 2023

Julie McCulloch, director of policy at the Association of School and College Leaders comments on the Department of Education and Ofqual announcement about grading and exam adaptions

McCulloch said:

“We welcome the decisions made in respect of grading and exam adaptations in 2023. Returning grading standards to pre-pandemic standards with a safety net to ensure that grades do not fall lower is a sensible balance between stepping back to normality while ensuring that students affected by COVID disruption are not detrimentally affected. The pandemic caused a situation in which exams were not held for two years and were replaced with a different system of assessment that understandably resulted in different grades from normal. It would not be right for grading standards caused by highly unusual circumstances to become baked into the system so we do need to return to normality. We’re pleased that some exam adaptations have also been retained in recognition of COVID disruption.

“There is a discussion which needs to take place about the exam system, its over-reliance on students taking a huge number of end-of-course exams, and a grading cliff-edge in GCSE English and Maths which results in far too many 16-year-olds leaving secondary school without at least a grade four ‘standard pass’. But this requires longer-term consideration and planning, and the immediate task is to ensure the system supports students taking their exams in 2023.”