GCSE and A Level exams cancelled this summer, Gavin Williamson confirms
Teacher assessment grades will replace GCSE and A Level exams this summer, the education secretary has confirmed.
Announcing the changes in the Commons, Gavin Williamson told MPs that the government would “trust teachers rather than algorithms” in awarding grades.
He added that teachers will receive the necessary training and support to apply a grade awards system “fairly and consistently” across the country.
It comes as primary and secondary school children turn to remote learning as classrooms remain shuttered during England’s third national lockdown.
A delayed decision over whether to shut schools amid a spike in cases saw children return to school for just one day on Monday before they were closed again.
“While schools have not suddenly become unsafe, limiting the number of people who attend them is essential” in light of the surge in cases, said Williamson.
Williamson added that the UK was now “better prepared to deliver online learning”.
“This is an important step forward in supporting children to make for progress with their education they so desperately need.”
It comes after the Prime Minister last night warned that schools had become vectors of transmission, “causing the virus to spread between households”.
Figures leaked to the Times Education Supplement yesterday showed that Covid rates among teachers are up to four times higher than the local average in some areas of England.
In the London borough Greenwich, the average infection rate across primary and secondary school staff was 264 compared to 98 for the local population between September and November.