Official: A-level and GCSE 2021 exams replaced with teacher assessed grades

Will we still have mock exams? Or any other form of examination?

These are just ideas at the moment, and nothing is confirmed. We should know more in the next few days on what exactly these ideas would entail. 'Mini exams' doesn't really clear it up for anyone!

Surely with the death toll increasing by day it should not be safe for us to be examined??

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to get to know about what people think about the proposed “mini exams” or external assessments from the Exam boards. I personally feel that they shouldn’t be used because won’t giving us external exams defeat the whole purpose of cancelling exams in the first place? I believe they should not be made compulsory and should be an optional decision for schools and teachers. I think their’s also a great change that they can get dropped after the consultation, as most people seem to be against the idea. I know the Ofqual regulator is quite fond of the idea, and Gavin Williamson would like to explore the idea of external assessments but, I feel that more people are against it. I believe the mini exams will not stop inflation as nothing can stop inflation this year, I believe teachers should submit grades to exam boards and then exam boards should randomly select a sample of students from each school and ask for evidence. This will ensure consistency.

What is everyone’s thoughts on “mini-exams” do you think they’re a good idea? Do you think we’ll go ahead with them? What are the other alternatives?

I think if some students feel that they are not satisfied with their CAGs should have the option to do an exam of some sort including private and resist candidates. I do believe they should be optional though.

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to get to know about what people think about the proposed “mini exams” or external assessments from the Exam boards. I personally feel that they shouldn’t be used because won’t giving us external exams defeat the whole purpose of cancelling exams in the first place? I believe they should not be made compulsory and should be an optional decision for schools and teachers. I think their’s also a great change that they can get dropped after the consultation, as most people seem to be against the idea. I know the Ofqual regulator is quite fond of the idea, and Gavin Williamson would like to explore the idea of external assessments but, I feel that more people are against it. I believe the mini exams will not stop inflation as nothing can stop inflation this year, I believe teachers should submit grades to exam boards and then exam boards should randomly select a sample of students from each school and ask for evidence. This will ensure consistency.

What is everyone’s thoughts on “mini-exams” do you think they’re a good idea? Do you think we’ll go ahead with them? What are the other alternatives?

On the whole, my impression is that mini-exams are a very popular suggestion on the part of both students, teachers and parents because they provide students with more agency over their grades. Although this agency might be compromised somewhat by lockdown restrictions and such, the exams are supposed to be tailored to some degree in their content to account for this and might in any case be preferable to the 'caprice' of teachers and exam regulators. I would myself prefer as a gap year student from last year resitting a subject to have a chance at being issued with a CAG, see if I'm satisfied, and sit mini-exams to replace it if I'm not.

If we do have the mini tests will our grade be lower than what we get in those tests?

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to get to know about what people think about the proposed “mini exams” or external assessments from the Exam boards. I personally feel that they shouldn’t be used because won’t giving us external exams defeat the whole purpose of cancelling exams in the first place? I believe they should not be made compulsory and should be an optional decision for schools and teachers. I think their’s also a great change that they can get dropped after the consultation, as most people seem to be against the idea. I know the Ofqual regulator is quite fond of the idea, and Gavin Williamson would like to explore the idea of external assessments but, I feel that more people are against it. I believe the mini exams will not stop inflation as nothing can stop inflation this year, I believe teachers should submit grades to exam boards and then exam boards should randomly select a sample of students from each school and ask for evidence. This will ensure consistency.

What is everyone’s thoughts on “mini-exams” do you think they’re a good idea? Do you think we’ll go ahead with them? What are the other alternatives?

The thing is that they need to check our progress after December in some way or another. If these don't go ahead, then surely the school would do so by mocks or class tests. It just seems absurd to completely base it from the past as that is not accurate and students can improve by a lot from December to June. We can't be completely exam free, because nobody is going to revise.

Hi everyone,

It has now been officially announced that due to the new school closures exams will not go ahead as planned in 2021. These exams will be replaced with teacher assessed grades. Teachers will be supported to make sure that the grades given are consistent and fair.

The reason this decision has been made is that it is now believed that students will have simply missed far too much face to face teaching time for traditional examinations to be an equal and fair measure of students abilities.
TSR will continue to update as we find out more. If there is anything TSR can do right now to support you, please reach out and ask and we will do our best.

Private Candidates 2021 Support Thread

If you are struggling, we have put some mental health resources below for you:

TSR Covid-19 Mental Health Hub

Struggling with exams being cancelled? Read some advice here.

MIND - Mental health charity for all ages with help and advice
Young Minds - Mental health support for under 18 year olds
Student Minds - Mental health support for University students
BTEC student support (DM's)

Edit: DFE states that vocational exams will continue in January. This includes all BTECS.

Edit 2: DFE states that colleges can decide whether to run vocational January exams (including BTECs)

Edit 3: It has now been confirmed that exams have been replaced with Teacher Assessed Grades for GCSE, AS and A-level exams. Teachers will be trained and supported to make sure these grades are consistent and fair for everyone.

School’s will definitely do some internal mocks and assessments, but I am just not in favour of these external exams.

School’s will definitely do some internal mocks and assessments, but I am just not in favour of these external exams.

But wouldn't external exams mean that everyone across the country gets to sit the same paper? Different schools may have different difficulties which puts certain students at an advantage, so everybody sitting the same paper would be fairer IMO.
I'm just happy we are having mocks though tbh.