Exams regulator Ofqual announced on Wednesday, March 17 that students appearing for A-level and GCSE will be able to see the question of mini-assessments and marking schemes in advance, after the Easter holidays. However, teachers would have access of the same at the end of March. Ofqual, after making the announcement,was branded 'a joke'. The decision has been made after the ministers were warned against punishing families by shortening summer holidays.
Speaking on the topic, head of Ofsted Amanda Spielman said that children need time to spend with their grandparents and friends and forcing them to spend more time inside can backfire after lockdown. According to a statement by the spokesman of Ofqual, the schools will be made available with detailed guidance from JCQ, alongside the assessment materials and grade descriptors by the end of this month. Availability of the full package will be there to be able to prepare.
The spokesman also said that a wide range of questions will be made available to the students in advance but they will not know which one will be used by their school or college.It was feared that the mini-assessments would be made redundant if pupils over-prepare with the help of the internet and parents. However, officials were of the opinion that the evaluations were never supposed to be like exams and should be looked upon as coursework.
Government's decision to give students advance sight of external tasks, which will be used as a basis for their grading by the teachers, has been condemned by the education experts and teachers as they said that it will lead to a "car crash".
The exams were scheduled to happen this summer, however was cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic. After which, Ofqual said that GCSE and A level grades would be awarded through teacher assessment, with students sitting optional. It is also said that teachers can use external tasks set by exam boards as a basis for assigning a final grade. Teachers can also use the mini-assessments, set by the usual exam boards, as one of the options to determine grades.