Hampshire pupils grade government's 'bad job' on exams as they demand answers

PUPILS have said they are relieved that exams have been cancelled but are now asking for clarity over how they will be handed grades.
Park Community School Year 11 pupils Sydney Foulstone, Keelie Sanderson, Matteo Galasso and Yvette Prior, all 15, were relived the exams were cancelled but now want clarity over how they will be awarded their grades.Park Community School Year 11 pupils Sydney Foulstone, Keelie Sanderson, Matteo Galasso and Yvette Prior, all 15, were relived the exams were cancelled but now want clarity over how they will be awarded their grades.
Park Community School Year 11 pupils Sydney Foulstone, Keelie Sanderson, Matteo Galasso and Yvette Prior, all 15, were relived the exams were cancelled but now want clarity over how they will be awarded their grades.

Education secretary Gavin Williamson has already confirmed this summer’s GCSE and A-level exams would not be going ahead due to disruption caused by the pandemic.

Concerns have been focussed on how awards will be dished out, with last summer’s algorithm blamed for bad results.

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Cancellation of exams

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Park Community School Year 11 pupil, Matteo Galasso, said: ‘I was pleased when I heard the announcement and I personally believe it was the right decision.

‘Covid has had such a negative impact on our learning with students having missed lessons and preventing us from finishing the syllabus.

‘I think it has really set us back and we’ve lost too much learning time to put us in exams.’

Classmate Yvette Prior, 15, added: ‘I was happy when I heard as at least we now have some clarity that exams are not going to happen.’

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Fairness is the main concern as children will have different levels of teaching during lockdown.

Sydney Foulstone, 15, said: ‘I was quite relieved to hear the news as all the uncertainty has been very stressful. With all the disruption it would have been impossible for the exams to be run fairly.’

However some pupils have been left disappointed they will not be able to ‘prove themselves’ in their exams.

Horndean Technology College head boy Martin Lloyd, 16, said: ‘I would have liked the chance to sit my exams and prove what I’m capable of as I think I could have done well. My only worry is that our grades may be seen as devalued by future employers.’

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His sister and head girl Wendy Lloyd, 16, added: ‘While there was a slight sense of relief I’m disappointed I won’t get the chance to prove myself and show what I’ve learned. I do think there should have been some consultation with students to see how they feel.’

Teacher assessed grades

While details are still to be confirmed, the awarding of grades will be based on teacher assessment. Mr Williamson said he would ‘trust in teachers rather than algorithms’ when grading GCSE and A-levels.

Last summer saw a U-turn to replace calculated grades with teacher-estimated grades. However this also proved problematic with 76 per cent of pupils attaining a grade 4 or above – compared to 67.1 per cent in 2019 – raising concerns about inflated grades.

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Keelie Sanderson, 15, said: ‘I think teacher assessed grades is the best way forward. We’ve been in constant contact with our teachers and they know us best and will award grades fairly.’

Classmate Matteo Galasso, 15, added: ‘Teachers know the most about our capabilities and work and so they are the most appropriate person to award our grades. I think we should trust in teachers judgements as I don’t think they will inflate our grades.

‘Teachers will often mark a piece of work as ungraded if they don’t think it’s worth a pass.’

What pupils now want is clarity from the government over exactly how teachers will arrive at their grade judgements.

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Park Community School pupil Sydney Foulstone said: ‘We need to know how this is going to work. It’s hard to motivate yourself to get something when you don’t know how you are supposed to do it. Teachers are trying to get evidence but even they don’t know exactly what they need to provide.

‘Overall I think the government has done a bad job as they have often changed decisions and should have decided things a lot sooner than they have.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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