The Department for Education has today (12th October) announced that most GCSE and A-level exams in 2021 will be pushed back by three weeks.

Dame Alison Peacock, Chief Executive of the Chartered College of Teaching, said:

“We are pleased to see a firm commitment to end the mass uncertainty around these public examinations.

However, simply moving the timescale back means we still have increased inequity. This delay does not solve the current issues we are seeing. How will those sitting their exams in 2021 be compensated for the widely variable experience they have had due to the impact of COVID-19 on their capacity to continue learning since March?  Factors such as geographical region and digital access all contribute to an unfair distribution of access to teaching?

These tweaks to exam arrangements do nothing to prevent a repeat of last year’s fiasco.  Once again, our teachers will be the ones left to show leadership by ensuring robust continuous assessment from now until next summer.  Teachers care about their pupils and will do all they can to support studies at a time when workload and pressure is at an all-time high for our profession.”