The Student Room Group

Official: 2021 A-level and GCSE grades decided by teachers, 'mini-exams' optional

Poll

Following the government's announcement, do you think you will be awarded a fair grade this year?

Grades will be decided this summer.jpg


Ofqual and the DfE have today started to further more information about your A-Level and GCSE results will be decided this year.

Here is a breakdown of the information released so far - (8am, 25/2/21) GCSE and A-level

Teachers will award grades on the basis of mock exams, coursework and essays. Schools are allowed to decide which evidence is best


Optional 'mini-exams' set by exam boards (could also be past exam papers), but these will not decide final grades


If optional 'mini-tests' are taken, they will not be exam conditions, will take place in class with no time limit and will be marked by teachers


Detailed information will be sent to teachers to help them decide grades and ensure a level of consistency amongst all teachers, no matter what school you're at


Grades will be sent by teachers to Ofqual by the 18th June, where quality assurance tests will take place

Exam boards will provide some scrutiny, in the form of sampling of evidence. Some centres will be sampled, randomly over a broad range of types of centres, or if there are unusual patterns of results based on past performance on a centre. Exam boards intervening should be an exception, not the norm.


No specific standardising amongst schools or colleges, and schools are not expected to keep in line with last years results


'Clear and robust' appeals process will be in place, more detail on this to follow - it will be free and if you are still unhappy, you will have the option of exams in Autumn


Appeals will be allowed based on perceived process and judgment errors, i.e data entry mistakes or a belief that a grade was not a reasonable judgment based on evidence provided.


Private candidates

Private candidates will be able to work with their assessment centers to receive their grade, which will be based on specific evidence that will be provided to centers by exam boards. There will be a list of available centers published, and the DfE are working to make sure there are plenty of centers available and that it will be a similar cost to last year.


Here is a breakdown of the information released so far - (8am, 25/2/21) BTEC

Btecs and other practical courses will also receive teacher assessed grades and will not take exams


What we don't know

Will this decision lead to grade inflation

Do teachers/schools or students decide to take optional exams


Take a look at our in-depth article explaining how your grades will be decided here!

Key Timeline

End of spring term: Publish all the detailed guidance

18th June All grades have to be submitted

9th August, all checks and balances have to be done

Priority given to appeals required for university places, done before uni term starts.



When is A-level Results

Ofqual have released an infographic here that might be useful to some of you!

What do you think of the news? We're still waiting for more information, but this gives us the first idea of what your results will comprise of and look like.

Our stance on unofficial mark schemes can be found here
(edited 3 years ago)

Scroll to see replies

I'm tagging in everyone from the last thread as this is the new conversation about the announcements made on the 25th of Febuary. Hope you don't mind :smile:

everyone.


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(edited 2 years ago)
I think it's a goddamn blessing. Nuff said.
Its a joke it took them so long to come to this decision when realistically it was obvious exams wouldn't work for this year group last summer, but at least its finally done
yes
Reply 5
I'm confused about these mini exams. So they're not in exam conditions? Does that mean it can be open book? Can you just casually chat away to your classmates while doing these 'mini exams'?
I'm so happy, I'm now guaranteed to get the grades that I need
Original post by jj30523
I'm confused about these mini exams. So they're not in exam conditions? Does that mean it can be open book? Can you just casually chat away to your classmates while doing these 'mini exams'?

this is exactly what i don't get. For example in my school if we do tests in a classroom setting the teachers won't just let us use notes or talk ?
Reply 8
Original post by Evil Homer
I'm tagging in everyone from the last thread as this is the new conversation about the announcements made on the 25th of Febuary. Hope you don't mind :smile:

everyone.




Thank you
Disappointed, i havent done great on my mocks and now i only have around 3months or less to prove myself😪
This is brilliant, however there will be wide scale cheating if done in a classroom, and there is nothing anybody can do about that. In my opinion they should have made us do them in exam halls
This sounds like a really good idea! Honestly I think it is the fairest way for students to get their grades after everything :smile:
Reply 12
Well, it's the plan that requires the least effort from the government. Looks like grades will be inflated this year too then.
Original post by .2.0.0.3.
Disappointed, i havent done great on my mocks and now i only have around 3months or less to prove myself😪

3 Months is still such a long time, you've got this :yep:
Original post by Evil Homer
Ofqual and the DfE have today started to further more information about your A-Level and GCSE results will be decided this year.

Here is a breakdown of the information released so far - (8am, 25/2/21) GCSE and A-level

Teachers will award grades on the basis of mock exams, coursework and essays. Schools are allowed to decide which evidence is best


Optional 'mini-exams' set by exam boards (could also be past exam papers), but these will not be taken in exam conditions or decide final grades


If optional 'mini-tests' are taken, they will not be exam conditions, will take place in class with no time limit and will be marked by teachers


Detailed information will be sent to teachers to help them decide grades and ensure a level of consistency amongst all teachers, no matter what school you're at


Grades will be sent by teachers to Ofqual by the 18th June, where quality assurance tests will take place


No specific standardising amongst schools or colleges, and schools are not expected to keep in line with last years results


'Clear and robust' appeals process will be in place, more detail on this to follow - it will be free and if you are still unhappy, you will have the option of exams in Autumn


Private candidates

Private candidates will be able to work with their assessment centers to receive their grade, which will be based on specific evidence that will be provided to centers by exam boards. There will be a list of available centers published, and the DfE are working to make sure there are plenty of centers available and that it will be a similar cost to last year.


Here is a breakdown of the information released so far - (8am, 25/2/21) BTEC

Btecs and other practical courses will also receive teacher assessed grades and will not take exams


What we don't know

More detail on the appeals process and how it will work


A-level results day will be on the 10th August 2021, GCSE results day will be on the 12th August 2021.

What do you think of the news? We're still waiting for more information, but this gives us the first idea of what your results will comprise of and look like.


Ok I’m kinda happy :woohoo:but still unsure on these mini exams and how they will work in school with no time limit. But still
I mean the inflation is going to be mad but I'll get the grades I need - unis probs won't give as many offers though so I'll probably end up with the right grades but no offers
Reply 16
Original post by cactussalad
I mean the inflation is going to be mad but I'll get the grades I need - unis probs won't give as many offers though so I'll probably end up with the right grades but no offers

Are you applying after receiving your grades?
Reply 17
However, my school treats the mini exams like it is in 2019, which is closed book exams in timed conditions. We have covered the entire syllabus around a month ago and our previous mock is already on almost the whole syllabus despite one Chemistry topic being left out.
4C693723-2A90-4F59-B6E4-17311ECA9964.jpeg
My first lesson teacher is being assessed today so we can't even tell her or ask her about how mocks are going to work now :s-smilie:

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