With most of the UK painfully aware of the effects of COVID-19 by experiencing restrictions in one way or another, the Welsh Government announce that G.C.S.E and A-Level exams will not be taking place in 2021. They are being replaced with ‘Teacher-Managed’ assessments. Could this be an advantage for students with dyslexia?

OK, I am just going to come out with it. I was jubilant when I heard the announcement from Kirsty Williams, the Minister for Education in Wales. All students taking G.C.S.E and A-Level courses will not be taking exams in 2021. See the announcement below:

The main reason for this change, Ms Williams stated, was fairness. The amount of time that learners would be in school would make it impossible to guarantee a ‘level playing field’ for every student.

I welcome this news, but you will know that if you follow this blog, I have always advocated for a ‘level playing field’ for our dyslexic learners. In fact, I was extremely disappointed when the UK Government announced that the course work element for G.C.S.E’s were being removed and that students were solely going to be assessed by examination. For dyslexic learners this was a huge blow to unlocking their academic potential as in so many cases taking exams played to their weaknesses. When anyone is unfairly forced to do something that plays to their weaknesses, levels of stress and anxiety increase and the focus moves away from learning and onto surviving.

So, for me, I am delighted at hearing this news as this approach has the potential to enable our dyslexic learners to demonstrate their learning and not their ability to pass exams.

The ‘teacher-managed’ assessments are going to take place in a classroom environment under the supervision of teachers.

So what should schools in Wales consider when they deliver these teacher-managed assessments, in terms of dyslexic needs?

Firstly, all identified reasonable adjustments should be adhered too and I would really like to see an emphasis on encouraging the use of laptops and assistive technology as so often the skilful use of IT and good touch-typing skills enable the leaner to focus less on the challenges of delivering lots of text and more on demonstrating their learning.

The use of pen and paper, for example, can be uncomfortable for a dyslexic learner when writing lots of text. It can be exhausting and with that fatigue comes lack of focus and concentration. Equally using a laptop with poor typing skills can be a challenge too as this requires the learner to keep looking up and down from the screen to the keyboard to check that the typing is going well. This becomes cognitively challenging and slow especially at a time when the likelihood of higher amounts of written coursework becomes a requirement.

The provision and training of speech to text technology(supporting phonological decoding) or the teaching of touch typing skills as appropriate will ensure that the use of IT provides the maximum benefit ultimately delivering good quality written assessments.

Final comments.

Exams are a test of one’s ability to pass exams and are often an inaccurate assessment of learning across the whole student body because they dictate the way that learning should be expressed. With the Welsh Government replacing the G.C.S.E and A-Level exams in 2020 for ‘teacher-managed’ assessments, then everyone INCLUDING students with dyslexia and other specific learning differences have a better chance of expressing what they have learnt. That said, this can only be the case if identified reasonable adjustments are awarded with an appropriate use of technology.

Personally, I would love to see this approach adopted across the whole of the UK for 2021 with the option to review for future years.

More information about the Welsh Government announcement can be found by clicking here.

What do you think?

I would really value your thoughts right now on this topic. Please leave a comment below or engage with me on Twitter, letting me know your thoughts on the announcement.