GCSE and A-level papers from last summer’s cancelled exams ‘are being sold online for £1’

GCSE and A-level papers from last summer’s cancelled exams that will be used by schools to predict grades ‘are being sold online for £1’ Schools in England likely to use 2020 papers to determine grades this summer  Students have been using social media to sell and share access to the exams  Candidates can access them … Read more

Three in five schools plan to rely on tests when deciding GCSE and A-level grades

Three in five schools plan to rely on tests when deciding GCSE and A-level grades – even though official exams are cancelled A survey by the school leaders’ union ASCL found seven per cent of schools will base assessments entirely on exam-style papers Fifty three per cent said they would give greater weight to exam-style … Read more

Teachers call for GCSE’s and A-level exams to be replaced

GCSEs and A-levels should be replaced with alternative assessments in the long term, teachers have said. School staff now have a ‘golden opportunity’ to stop ‘toxic testing’ amid growing calls to reform the national assessments, the National Education Union’s (NEU) virtual annual conference heard. A motion passed at the conference called for GCSEs and A-levels … Read more

Fired! For refusing to write my student’s A-level essay

Could you show me how to write this essay?’ my pupil asks, her wide-eyed expression trained hopefully on my face. A 17-year-old A-level student I have been coaching is meant to be working on her English coursework. The only problem? She has no intention of doing it herself. Once I restructured a paragraph in her … Read more

Teachers and education experts warn new A-Level and GCSE plan will be ‘wide open to abuse’

Gavin Williamson’s plan to leave grading to teachers is ‘wide open to abuse’ and will ‘inevitably’ bump up marks because it is like football managers being left to predict their own team’s results, education experts told MailOnline today. The Education Secretary was fire-fighting in the Commons this afternoon over his ‘Wild West’ system for GCSEs … Read more

Gavin Williamson says A-Level and GCSE grades WILL be down to teachers

Gavin Williamson today tried to quell fears over a ‘Wild West’ system for GCSEs and A-Levels as experts warned his plan could be even worse than last year’s hated algorithm. The Education Secretary confirmed that teachers will have control over the marks their pupils get, but insisted there will be ‘meaningful checks’ and ‘quality assurance’, with … Read more

Experts warn A-Level and GSCE exam replacement could be WORSE than last year

Ministers today insisted their GCSE and A-Level exam replacement plan is the ‘best we can do’ despite claims an experts has quit warning of an even more dire outcome than last year’s hated algorithm. Schools minister Nick Gibb confirmed that teachers will have control over the marks their pupils get, but insisting there will be ‘protective … Read more

Ministers consider gradual school reopening after half-term led by A-Level, GCSE and primary pupils

Children in years that should have sat exams this year could lead the way back to class in a phased reopening of schools after half-term. Under plans being considered, pupils who will be teacher-assessed for A-Levels and GCSEs this year after exams were cancelled could head back first along with years one and six in … Read more

‘Mini-exams’ could inform teacher-assessed GCSE and A-level grades

Pupils could be told to sit mini-exams to help teachers calculate A-level and GCSE results as Gavin Williamson rules out using an algorithm after last summer’s debacle Ministers today said they will not use an algorithm to calculate student grades Decision to use algorithm last year descended into chaos and prompted U-turn Gavin Williamson raised … Read more