Following the announcement that exams this summer are cancelled, Ofqual and the DfE have launched consultations on the alternative arrangements to be put in place to ensure students receive grades this year. The consultations seek feedback on proposals for GCSEs, AS and A Levels and for vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs). The main proposals are:

GCSEs, AS and A Levels

• A student’s grade in a subject will be based on their teacher’s assessment of the standard at which they are performing based on areas of content they have studied
• Teachers will draw on a range of evidence of a student’s work in making their final assessment
• The final assessment will be made towards the end of the academic year, at about the time students would have taken their exams
• Exam boards will provide guidance and training, and make available a set of papers for teachers to use with their students as part of their assessment.

A more detailed summary of the proposals for how GCSE, AS and A Level grades should be awarded in summer 2021 can be found here.

VTQs and other general qualifications

• For those VTQs and other general qualifications that are most similar to GCSE, AS and A Levels it is not viable for external exams to go ahead
• For these qualifications, a revised version of the regulatory framework will be created to allow awarding organisations to continue to offer adapted assessments and to award qualifications where exams have not taken place and learners have not been able to complete all other assessments
• For Functional Skills and for qualifications that require a practical assessment to demonstrate occupational competency or that are licence to practise, assessments should continue to take place subject to public health guidance
• For these qualifications, where there is no way to deliver assessments safely or when students have not received enough learning to reach occupational competency, assessments will have to be delayed.

A more detailed summary of the proposals for alternative arrangements for vocational and technical qualifications in summer 2021 can be found here.

For all qualifications, there is a proposed appeals route for students to challenge their grades and it is proposed that all students, including those who are studying independently or who are home educated, will get a grade.

The deadline for responses is 29 January.