Wales’ Education Minister Says New Exam Grading System Will Deliver

Students and parents should have confidence in how grades in Wales will be awarded this year, the new education minister has said.

GCSE and A-Levels will be decided by schools and colleges after exams were cancelled in a bid to avoid a repeat of last summer’s exam fiasco.

But one headteacher has said the workload for staff was extraordinary.

Education minister Jeremy Miles said the “right balance” had been struck in extremely challenging circumstances.

The system for deciding grades descended into chaos in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic last summer after thousands of results were downgraded by examining officials.

It led to the previous education minister issuing an apology and abandoning the results, instead relying on teachers’ original estimated exam grades.

This summer’s results are being determined by teachers after examinations were cancelled – but many schools have scheduled assessments to collect evidence for grades.

The head of the Welsh exams body WJEC, Ian Morgan, said he accepted fairly mixed reaction had trailed how the grading system was working.

Morgan added that schools and colleges had been given permission to use a range of evidence to back-up grades, including tests and access to past exam papers.

Morgan said he recognised there were difficulties and pressures for schools implementing the grading system.

Wales’ new education minister said he thought the grading system was “deliverable”.