Students “unnecessarily” taking ‘plan b’ tests, says government

The UK government has admitted that some schools are getting students to take too many ‘plan b’ tests as part of exam preparation

The Department for Education and Ofqual have issued draft guidance on how schools should collect teacher-assessed grades evidence as part of “long-term resilience arrangements” for exams from 2024 onwards.

The guidance states that one full set of mock exams sat in exam conditions is “likely to provide sufficient evidence” for teacher-assessed grades, and there is “no need” to complete multiple mock sets for evidence.

The government faced criticism for not having an “off-the-shelf plan B” when exams were cancelled for a second time in early 2021 due to the pandemic. The consultation on the new guidance runs until August 2, 2023.