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?

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

•

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

•

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

Are you in Year 13, applying to uni and feeling unsure about your university options after this announcement? Sign up for the latest results news and information about university spaces here!

(edited 3 years ago)

OP

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.

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 2

username5173262

22

I think it's a goddamn blessing. Nuff said.

Reply 3

selugawi

15

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

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'?

Reply 6

letmeinunis

13

I'm so happy, I'm now guaranteed to get the grades that I need

Reply 7

Rohan Perara

8

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

Ten-Ten

19

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

Reply 9

username5487898

14

Disappointed, i havent done great on my mocks and now i only have around 3months or less to prove myself😪

Reply 10

the.cricketer

12

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

Reply 11

XViconX

10

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

Sinnoh

22

Well, it's the plan that requires the least effort from the government. Looks like grades will be inflated this year too then.

OP

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:

Reply 14

Cherrygrape1234

17

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

Reply 15

cactussalad

15

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

Sinnoh

22

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

8013

20

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.