How will exam grades be awarded now that summer exams have been cancelled?

There have been cancellations and changes to the summer examination series in all nations of the UK. However, detailed plans on what will replace exams are yet to be finalised.

In England, the Prime Minister has said “it is not possible or fair for all exams to go ahead this summer as normal” and has stated that the education secretary will work with Ofqual to put in place an alternative. The education secretary has announced that students will be given teacher-assessed grades without the use of algorithms, but exactly how this will work is yet to be confirmed.

In Scotland, National 5 exams and Higher and Advanced Higher exams have all been cancelled. Students’ grades will instead be based on teachers’ judgements of evidence of attainment.

GCSE and A-Level exams have been cancelled in Wales and it is proposed that students will undertake assessed tasks instead, although the details are not yet finalised.

In Northern Ireland, GCSE and A-Level exams have been cancelled and education secretary, Peter Weir, has stated that alternative plans will be confirmed before the end of January.

We do not yet know what arrangements will be made for private candidates (e.g. home educated students).