EPI report suggests ways to handle 2021 exams

The Education Policy Institute (EPI) has published its recommendations on how the government should approach GCSE and A level exams in England in 2021, including a back-up plan in the event that exams are cancelled again in the summer.  

National exams were cancelled in the summer of 2020, which led the government to opt for a number of alternative grade arrangements, before finally deciding in most cases to fall back on pupils’ teacher assessed grades.

In contrast to other UK nations, the government has announced that all major summer exams next year are set to go ahead in England – but they will be delayed by three weeks to give schools and pupils extra time to prepare.

The government is yet to set out a Plan B for summer examinations, in the event that they are unable to take place again due to the pandemic. It continues to consult with Ofqual and exam boards on “contingency plans”, which are expected to be announced before Christmas.

The new EPI report contains recommendations on how the government should proceed with testing and examinations next year, and considers how the government can mitigate against lost learning time as a result of the pandemic.

The report urges the government to consider greater optionality in exam papers so that pupils have a better chance of answering questions on the content they have covered. While delivering optionality presents some challenges for exam boards, it will ensure fairness for pupils who have lost learning time. The government should consider a short-term funding increase to ensure that exam boards can accommodate this.  

It also recommends that multiple papers covering a single subject are as spaced out as much as possible during the exam period. This ensures that if a pupil misses an exam to comply with Covid-19 guidance, they have another one to fall back on.

The report also calls for some grade inflation to be allowed, given that the 2021 cohort will have also experienced lost learning time.

In the event that summer exams are cancelled next year, the EPI recommends that the government introduces a new series of benchmarking assessments to provide “contingency grades” if summer exams cannot take place for the majority of pupils.

Further research on the impact of using teacher assessed grades on pupil outcomes, particularly for the most disadvantaged also needs to occur.
 
To mitigate against the impact of lost learning time, the EPI recommends that the government provides additional and urgent catch up funding for disadvantaged pupils this year, totalling £1.3bn.