Ofqual: rolling update

On 4 January 2021 the Prime Minister announced that GCSE, AS and A level exams would not take place in summer 2021. On 13 January, the Secretary of State for Education confirmed that exams for vocational and technical qualifications should not take place in February and March.

Ofqual, the Department for Education and the exam boards for England have been working together on different arrangements to award qualifications this year. GCSEs, AS and A levels and some vocational and technical qualifications will be awarded using teacher-assessed grades.

Appeals for GCSEs, AS and A levels

You could only appeal summer results if you thought:

• your school or college did not make a reasonable judgement when deciding which evidence to use to determine your teacher-assessed grade
• your school or college did not make a reasonable judgement about your grade based on the evidence gathered
• your school or college didn’t follow its procedures properly when working out your proposed grade
• your school or college made an administrative error when submitting your proposed grade
• the exam board made an administrative error

Appeals for vocational or technical qualifications

If you think that your grade is wrong, talk to your college, training provider or school. They will tell you what the process is for appealing your qualification grade. You can also check your awarding organisation’s website for more details.

Key information about 2021 qualifications

Autumn exams

GCSE, AS and A level

There will be exams in October for AS and A level. All A level subjects will be available. AS in biology, chemistry, physics, maths and further maths will be available.

There will be exams in all GCSE subjects in November or December.

Art and design will be assessed by a task set and marked by the exam board. Your grade will be determined by your performance on this task.

Vocational and technical qualifications

Some awarding organisations already offer assessments in the autumn term or in January. Those that don’t may choose to do so this year. Talk to your college, training provider or school if you want to use this as an opportunity to get or improve your grade.

Information for 2022 GCSEs and A levels

Consultation on proposals

Ofqual and the Department for Education are now analysing the responses to their consultation on proposals for exams in 2022. They will publish the decisions soon.

Changes already announced for GCSEs, AS and A levels in 2022

On 16 June, we announced that there would be changes to non-exam assessment and fieldwork requirements for some qualifications taken in 2022.

1. We will allow adjustments to the assessment and evidence requirements for non-exam assessment in subjects such as dance, design and technology, food preparation and nutrition, music, and PE.
2. In GCSE and AS geography, students will not answer questions on fieldwork they have done themselves.
3. For GCSE English language, teachers do not need to submit recordings of students doing their spoken language assessments.
4. Spoken language for GCSEs in modern foreign languages will be assessed in the normal way, through speaking tests. If this is not possible due to public health restrictions, they will be awarded in a different way.
5. Exam boards do not need to use vocabulary that is not included on their vocabulary lists for GCSE modern foreign languages.

Vocational and technical qualifications, 2021 to 2022

The Department for Education has confirmed that exams and assessments will go ahead for all vocational and technical qualifications from September 2021. Ofqual is working with the Department for Education on contingency plans should the pandemic worsen.

Replacement certificates

Ofqual do not hold copies of your certificates – we can’t tell you your grade or provide replacements. Certificates are held by the exam board you sat your qualification with. If you don’t know which exam board you took your qualification with, ask your school. If your school don’t know you will need to ask each exam board to do a search for you – they will charge you for this.

Contact your exam board

• AQA
• Pearson
• OCR
• WJEC Eduqas

Anxiety and mental health support

It’s understandable to feel worried about your results this year. We published a blog from experts at Manchester University on things that might help if you are worried about your grades. Always make sure you speak to somebody if you are feeling anxious or struggling with your mental health. This might be a parent, carer or someone else you trust.

You can also contact:

• Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services ​(CAMHS)
• Mind​
• Young Minds​
• NHS 111 – they can assist in providing the mental health support you may need