This is the year that exams should be cancelled. It should not have been last year. Last year the curriculum had been covered and schools were empty (lock down) so there was enough space for exams to have been sat safely. Other countries sat them. However, the students due to sit their A Level exams in summer 2021 are the ones that should have their exams cancelled. These students have not been to school since March 2020 and have just returned in September 2020. This is a massive chunk of the curriculum (six months) that has been missed and is near impossible to catch up. Many students continue to miss parts of the curriculum too if they have to self-isolate etc. Nationally it is not a level playing field. Teachers and students alike do not know how they are meant to cope. Obviously they will do their best but the anxiety and stress is very high, which is not conducive to good studying. It seems that each school is dealing with the situation in their own way.There is no consistency across the country. This uncertainty is a huge stress too.

Many schools are trying to prepare for 2 case scenarios: 1) the summer exams will go ahead and 2) the summer exams will NOT go ahead.This sounds sensible but what does it actually mean?

Scenario 1 means the school tries to cram in all the curriculum, even the six months that were missed in the first lock down, which is ridiculous, especially for content-heavy subjects! There physically is not enough time to cover all the content and do all the preparation to make you exam-ready, even if they push the exams back a few weeks. A few weeks does not provide enough time for six moths that were missed. 

Scenario 2 means the school has to carry out Centre Assessed Grades so they can issue grades in the event that exams are cancelled. This sounds good, but what does it mean? Effectively it means that students have to sit a series of mock exams, knowing that these grades will be used as their final grades. Effectively, it will be like sitting your final A level exams every time you have a mock exam.  The pressure and stress of this is incredibly high and unprecedented. Why should these exams be repeated so many times? Most schools have already sat their mock exams for the Centre Assessed Grades so they should not have to keep repeating them. This is adding more and more weight to what is already a very heavy load.

Many of these students have other issues to contend with too outside of school, as a direct result of the effects of Covid 19, whether it is the loss of loved ones, illness, loss of jobs, financial difficulties, domestic issues etc etc. They also have the added pressure of making their University choices/applications without actually being able to physically visit potential choices. 

Education relating to their A Level Finals is one thing that our Government can provide some certainty with immediately by announcing that exams will be cancelled. This will provide instant clarity to teachers and students alike, which is needed more than ever. Please support this campaign to help provide certainty for these students struggling to navigate their way through these murky waters.