Examinations are back in the spotlight this week, as Robin Walker MP, Minister of State for School Standards, announced that where schools have sufficient evidence of Teacher Assessed Grades (TAGs), they should ‘bank’ it and focus strictly on preparing students for examinations this summer.
After initially being asked by the government to gather evidence for TAGs, should Covid cause exams to be cancelled again, schools with ‘sufficient evidence’ are now being asked by Mr Walker to ‘put that in the drawer and focus on exam preparation’.
While Mr Walker’s announcement comes as no surprise, it does reopen the issue of how ‘fair’ exams will be this year, a theme of constant discussion amongst NE school leaders at Schools North East roundtables throughout February. With high levels of covid and non-covid disruption continuing, schools have found it very difficult to effectively deliver a continuous programme of ‘catch-up’.
Adding exam preparation into the mix has made an already difficult task even harder for all involved, especially when taking into account the regional context. The North East recorded the highest absence rate at secondary school level this month (8.6%), a theme that has run throughout the outbreak of Covid, with the region recording the highest number of student absences with 37% of lessons missed at the height of the pandemic.
Mr Walker’s encouragement to focus on exams also does not take into account the impact that the pandemic has had on the most disadvantaged, especially those living in the North East. Due to schools in the region having been hit hardest by disruptions to staff and student attendance throughout this academic year, many have found it difficult to gather sufficient evidence of student achievement.
The Schools North East’s ‘State of the Region’ survey in February showed that 52% of the region’s schools had less than 90% staff attendance. Additionally, only 53% of schools had student attendance levels above 90% at the same time.
Prior to Mr Walker’s announcement, many schools in the region noted how much the limited amount of time in the classroom would impact students preparing for exams. While all students should have the most possible time to prepare for exams, questions remain over what the Department for Education is going to do to mitigate the impact Covid has on those in the North East, the area that has been hardest hit by the pandemic.
Amidst the Government’s push to return to normal, it appears to have been forgotten that not only have students been subject to a global pandemic, affecting the health – both physical and mental – of themselves and those around them, but there remain serious concerns re the combined impact of a host of serious issues from absence levels to the digital divide.
