The future of exams in Wales after years of cancellations and changes

This summer season’s A-stage and GCSE results are moral a couple of weeks away and already solutions are turning to plans for subsequent year’s exams as colleges return to post-pandemic normality. Exam regulator Talents Wales said the scheme used to be to work in the direction of pre-pandemic arrangements for 2024 but that’s underneath assessment and an announcement may be made after results day.

This summer season is the second time papers were sat since the 2 years of cancellations during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. This summer season’s grades may be set at a midway point between results in 2019 – the last pre-pandemic year exams were sat – and 2022.

That length covers the file excessive results posted underneath trainer-assessed grades in 2020 and 2021. So this year’s grades are expected to be decrease than 2022 but bigger than 2019.

Study extra: Wales unearths paunchy crucial points of controversial new GCSEs

Once again this summer season’s exams saw some changes by those that characteristic them. Some come information on verbalize used to be given to varsities and students as nicely as revision pointers.

And there used to be what Talents Wales often known as “a supportive potential to grading”. So after two years of trainer-assessed grades replacing cancelled pandemic exams and two years of intervention to rob myth for “misplaced learning” will exams ever return to how they were trek and graded pre-Covid? Is there even an trek for food for that now other folks possess considered doable ideas are doable? Regardless of emerges the deliberate reforms to GCSEs in Wales are already nicely underneath manner in any case.

The regulator says which manner extra emphasis on assessment and coursework for some topics in the shut to future. Below the new GCSEs there are fewer science and literature qualifications and exams will include extra coursework and digital assessment.

The changes are being introduced in to suit Wales’ new curriculum. The first pupils to research the new GCSEs may be newcomers currently in Yr Seven aged 11 and 12 who may be in Yr 10 in September 2025 and will take a seat the exams in 2027. The new made-in-Wales GCSEs are designed to align with the new curriculum and its reduced emphasis on individual topics.

Amongst one of the vital controversial changes is the reality pupils will no longer research and rob three separate science GCSEs. Instead pupils may be in a group to rob both a double or a single science award incorporating chemistry, physics, and biology. Science organisations known as some of the changes “damaging” and “disappointing”. Watch extra on the criticism about that right here.

Exam board WJEC – the board broken-down by all maintained colleges in Wales as nicely as some independent colleges – is adamant that there may be serene a designate to and trek for food for exterior exams. WJEC chief executive Ian Morgan believes pandemic cancellations and the resulting row demonstrated that most colleges, students, fogeys and employers wished exams.

“There is a push for extra non-examination assessment now but there is a characteristic for exams. I think lots of other folks serene desire exams,” he said. “Exams are a impartial proper machine – every person does the an analogous thing at the an analogous time and there are generalised approaches to marking. What I in reality possess picked up over the last three years is that lots of newcomers are looking for the outside validation exams give.

“Conversations with head lecturers explain they behold designate in that finish point assessment. There is definitely serene an trek for food for exams and exterior assessment and attitudes to exams possess no longer changed deal since Covid.

“Covid has changed attitudes to exams for some and there are quite so a lot of programs to determine what newcomers know and that’s mirrored in the new potential to GCSE reforms. Positive there are genuine advocates for extra coursework but I think you possess to counter-steadiness that in terms of what which manner for transport and workload.”

Whereas examination boards will life like coursework there are concerns that extra of this may add to lecturers’ workload, which used to be a key converse in this year’s lecturers’ strike. And some topics don’t lend themselves to coursework.

The WJEC is feeding into discussion about GCSE reforms and Mr Morgan feels it is a ways an quite so a lot of to manufacture things in one more plot. However he additionally thinks studying for and sitting exams as a course of, regardless of the topics sat, teaches kids skills for lifestyles.

“In all aspects of lifestyles we take a seat some brand of assessment, whether it’s a driving test or something at work. Exams are crucial in building other folks’s self perception in their skills. You learn from taking exams. I do know there is apprehension around exams but I think having exams cancelled confirmed their designate.”

In a commentary Talents Wales said: “This year we possess now got taken the subsequent step on our skedaddle assist to pre-pandemic assessment arrangements with some further beef up remaining in quandary for newcomers as we transition assist to customary processes. In September 2022, when announcing this year’s grading arrangements, we said our intention to come to pre-pandemic standards and assessment arrangements in 2023-24 – we are able to substantiate our quandary in September when the present examination and assessment sequence has concluded.”

The regulator added that: “Formal exams and assessments enable newcomers to prove what they know, understand, and can manufacture. The grades that newcomers score measure their attainment and enable them to development into bigger training, further training, or employment.

“Exams mean that newcomers rob the an analogous assessments at the an analogous time and they are marked in the an analogous manner. Assessing newcomers by potential of standardised initiatives and with standardised marking offers comparability and helps equity to newcomers.”

The regulator said the disruption of the pandemic used to be an quite so a lot of to observe again at how exams are trek. “Cancelling exams during Covid highlighted the hazards of relying entirely on finish-of-course exams and assessments. It additionally introduced an quite so a lot of to rethink the timing and nature of assessments for the reformed GCSEs. This has been mirrored in the brand of the new GCSEs which manufacture bigger exhaust of non-examination assessments and extra unitised assessments that offer newcomers with the assorted to rob some exams forward of the finish of the course.

“One form of assessment isn’t any longer inherently better than one other – it is a ways determined by what you’re trying to assess. In some discipline areas coursework offers opportunities to assess data and skills in a extra official manner than exams. As an instance coursework offers opportunities to instantly assess purposeful skills or performances in a manner that you just may well’t instantly assess in a written examination. In other areas coursework allows colleges to tailor the assessment assignment to their locality – for instance a mission that explores native history or a local fieldwork space in geography. Here is more sturdy to manufacture in a standardised written examination.”

Whether or no longer other folks beef up fashioned exams or no longer there may additionally also be little doubt that the ride of cancellations and changes to verbalize and marking will influence future attitudes and approaches to them.

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