Pupils sitting GCSE and A-levels in Wales next year will not get any support through grade boundaries or advance information on questions, exams chiefs have said. It follows two years in which pupils have benefited from kinder grade boundaries and advance information on exam content to compensate them for the disruption to their education during Covid.
Exam results in Wales are likely to fall after years of above average grades as the system returns to “largely” to pre-pandemic conditions. Qualifications Wales said the only remaining Covid support measure would be “statistical protection” to stop grades falling “substantially below pre-pandemic levels, at a subject level”, the exam regulator said.
This measure is the “final step” on the way back to usual assessment arrangements, following support put in place during the pandemic. In summer 2023 more than one in 10 results at the top A*-A grades and you can read more about that here.
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Qualifications Wales said support given in the last two academic years was the right thing to do in the circumstances but admitted that “meant that we could not maintain standards in the normal way”. The regulator said it was vital to maintain confidence in the Welsh qualifications system and ensure results were comparable with peers across the border.
GCSE, A level, AS level exams and assessments took place in Wales in summer this year with extra support still given. This included some advance information of the content of exams and a grading approach to keep results midway between 2022’s record results and pre-pandemic results.
In England, which returned to pre-pandemic exam arrangements this year, record-low results were posted amid claims that it was unfair and too soon. Top A*-A grades at A levels in England fell from 35.9% in 2022 to 26.5% in summer this year. That compares to 34% of entries in Wales graded at A or A* in 2023 and 40.9% in 2022.
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Announcing a return to normal the exam regulator said in a statement: “GCSE, AS, A level and Skills Challenge Certificate qualifications in Wales will largely return to pre-pandemic arrangements. In line with previously set out plans, Qualifications Wales has written to schools and colleges with further details about its 2023-24 grading approach.
“The information is intended to support communications with learners and decisions on predicted grades for university applications. The update confirms a return to pre-pandemic approaches, starting in November, with statistical protection in the awarding process to prevent results falling substantially below pre-pandemic levels, at a subject level.”
Philip Blaker, Chief Executive of Qualifications Wales, said: “WJEC will not provide advance information ahead of the examinations this year. This signals the final step on our planned journey back to usual assessment arrangements, following the alternative arrangements which were put in place during the pandemic.
“Returning to usual arrangements helps us to protect the long-term value of learners’ grades, ensure comparability with their peers in other jurisdictions, and maintain confidence in our qualifications system.”
He added: “Learners are at the heart of our decisions, which is why we have taken a stepped approach to returning to pre-pandemic arrangements over the last few years. It’s important that we get back to the usual arrangements so that grades prepare learners for college, university or employment in the best possible way, and help them to make the right choices about their next steps.
“The broadly midway grading approaches of the past two years provided additional support for learners, and we believe that was the right thing to do. However, that meant that we could not maintain standards in the normal way.
“It is vital that we protect the long-term value of learners’ grades, to ensure comparability with their peers in other jurisdictions and maintain confidence in the Welsh qualifications system. In 2024, learners will again have the opportunity to demonstrate what they know and can do in exams and formal assessments.
“The grades that learners achieve in these exams and formal assessments measure their attainment and allow them to progress into higher and further education, or on to employment.”
As was the case last year, vocational qualifications will also follow pre-pandemic arrangements.
How exams changed thanks to Covid
- 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 - Exams were cancelled and learners received grades determined by their school or college
- 2021-2022 - Exams and formal assessments returned, but with support. Changes in place included adaptations such as reducing the content for assessment and advance information, and a grading policy that started “a stepped return” to pre-pandemic results.
- 2022-2023 – Exams took place again but with less support than the previous academic year. Extra support remained in place in the form of advance information and a grading policy that continued the gradual return to pre-pandemic outcomes.
