Schools across the UK have now closed indefinitely after the coronavirus outbreak, with A-level and GCSE exams cancelled, asking teachers and pupils to self-isolate, in the government’s efforts to curb the spread of the pandemic.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, said he has been forced to close down classrooms for up to 8 million pupils in England. This is the first countrywide school shutdown in modern British history.
However, schools will remain open, for the children of NHS staff and other frontline workers as well as for vulnerable children. The Prime Minister announced that the national voucher scheme will ensure that pupils who are dependant on and eligible for free school meal each day, will continue to receive it.
Mr Johnson also emphasised that the summer exams will now be replaced with teachers’ assessment and prediction for a student, in combination with the past 18 months of their school work and results based on their mock tests. However those students wish to take their exam can appear early next year.
Ofqual (the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation that regulates qualifications, examinations and assessments in England) promises to develop and set out a process after that, which will provide a calculated grade to each student that reflects their performance as fairly as possible. They will then work with the exam boards to ensure this is consistent and applied for all students.
However, Ofqual and exam boards reportedly will be discussing the approach with teachers’ representatives before finalising it, to ensure that it is as fair as possible.
Arya Mandal, an A-level student from Essex, was meant to take his exam this year. Multi-talented Arya is now stuck with his teachers’ assessment to determine his future. Speaking to Asian Voice, he said, “The teachers will now take into account predicted grades, mock results and data from the past 18 months to come up with grades that will reflect my ability and would have been viable for me to achieve this summer through the exam results.
“It is completely unprecedented and far from an ideal situation - there is very little any of us can do apart from wait for our results. Despite this, I believe the results I will get will be fair and allow me to continue with my life as I would had I taken the exams successfully.”
When asked if he would like to take the exam next year, he added, “It is highly unlikely I will want to take an exam following this situation, as we will receive A Level qualifications from our past results. However, if it is better for me and opens up more opportunities, then I may be obliged to take exams next year.”
Arya’s mother Dr Arpita Ray, who is a gynaecologist, specialising in reproductive medicine, told the newspaper, “I was anticipating something will change about their exam. But cancellation was a shock, though in given situation this was needed. We are facing a national emergency and everybody has to play their role. If it helps to stop spreading disease then let it be this way.”
Aditya Mukhopadhyay, a London school student who was meant to take his A-level this year said, “The cancellation of the exams was an unpleasant shock, many of us were expecting a good exam season to make up for what has been a very long and arduous couple of years. The system of predicted grades and teacher assessment is a best case alternative in fairness, but the system is unlikely to be fair and proportional throughout the country. This puts students I believe at a disadvantage when looking at their university offers and places as it seems unlikely to be done as best as possible.”
His father Anirban Mukhopadhyay added, “They could have just postponed the exams to July-August. No one joins university before September end-October. That could have given the children and examiners enough time. Evaluating on past work could be tricky for various reasons. We are worried that my son’s evaluation on past 18 months’ work may not be appropriate as their school is quite stringent with marks, has higher standards, making it much tougher to score than other schools. So how is he meant to compete with someone whose school is lenient with marking and their past evaluation? It is disproportionate.”
