The Education Secretary announced today how GCSE and A-Level students will get assessed in Summer 2021. Let’s take a closer look at the announcement.

The Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson has announced plans for how the Education System is going to assess young people taking GCSE and A-Levels this summer as well as those taking vocational qualifications.

Grades will be determined by teachers based ONLY on what they have been taught.

The announcement states that teachers will be able to draw on a range of evidence when determining grades, including the optional use of questions by exam boards, as well as mock exams, coursework or any other pieces that have been undertaken as part of the courses e.g essays. The awarding of grades will not utilise any algorithms.

In order to ensure fairness, schools, colleges and other educational settings will conduct multiple checks e.g checking consistency of judgements across teachers and that correct processes were followed.

This announcement follows a period of consultation that the general public, including readers of this blog, took part in.

Key dates for successful submission of grades.

Before the end of Spring Term (26th March)

Exam boards provide detailed guidance on assessing students to teachers.

18th June 2021

Teachers submit grades to exam boards. This maximises time for teaching prior to having to make assessments.

Week Commencing 9th August

Results day for GCSE, A-Levels and some vocational qualifications will take place during this week. This has been moved back from the 23rd August thus providing additional time for appeals to be completed giving students the best chance of getting the grades that they are relying on in order to move forward to their chosen next courses.

I have said this before when the Welsh Assembly announced their plans in November 2020 but I think that this is good news for dyslexic learners. Whilst it doesn’t necessarily mean that grades will be awarded solely upon course work (personally I would love that) as there will be tests used to assess learning, at face value it looks like there is a greater emphasis upon the use of coursework to assess grades. This perhaps reduces the amount of the time limited recall of information that so often seems to play to the weaknesses of dyslexic learners.

Whilst this may seem positive, I would have concerns about the provision of dyslexia support, the implementation of reasonable adjustments as well as that of EHCP’s that currently are being delayed in their awarding due to COVID restrictions.

The question is, are our dyslexic learners as well as other learners with some kind of SpLD getting what they need to achieve the best outcomes whilst all this change is taking place?

What is happening where you are?

Are you a parent of a dyslexic learner?

I really want to hear from you about what is happening in your area? How well is your dyslexic learner being supported? Are EHCP’s being adhered to? Is your child getting access to assistive technology that can help them to work at their best?

Are you a teacher?

You have had a rough time of it over this past year. How are things for you? What do you think about this announcement? How does it affect you ?

Please send me your comments below as I really want to hear from you and I will share them in a later article.