Northern Ireland

Summer exams to return - but with fewer papers

Pupils will take GCSE, AS and A-level exams next summer
Pupils will take GCSE, AS and A-level exams next summer Pupils will take GCSE, AS and A-level exams next summer

PUBLIC exams will return next year but young people will face significantly fewer papers.

One unit of study is to be omitted from the vast majority of GCSE, AS and A-levels in 2022.

There will also be less content in Entry Level, Occupational Studies and vocationally-related qualifications.

Education Minister Peter Weir outlined the changes in a statement to the assembly.

He said there would be significant reductions in assessment across the range of qualifications offered by the CCEA exams board.

Mr Weir also said "generous grading" would form part of the arrangements.

Summer exams have been cancelled both in 2020 and this summer due to disruption to young people's education.

This year, schools will calculate grades to be awarded to their pupils. The controversial algorithms that caused chaos last year have been dropped.

Mr Weir told the assembly that this year's arrangement was not sustainable.

It will be up to CCEA to decide which units of study will be omitted in 2021/22.

AS-level grades calculated by schools and awarded to pupils this year will not count towards final A-level grades in 2022.

The usual January exam series for GCSE English and mathematics will be moved forward to December 2021 due to the public health context.

"A planned return to public examinations is not, however, a return to business as usual," Mr Weir said.

"I am mindful of the need to consider our young people's mental health and well-being; the many difficulties they have faced with great resilience; and the significant disruption to their learning during not one but two academic years.

"I am very conscious that our young people have faced incredible challenges as a result of this pandemic. In making these adaptations to examinations, we will ensure that their lives are not defined or held back by the disruption they have experienced."

Details of changes will be available on the CCEA website from early June 2021.

The Secondary Students' Union of Northern Ireland welcomed the statement.

"This is a victory for student voice. This shows our young people that their voices can be heard at the top levels," said union president Cormac Savage.

"This is a timely announcement that will go a long way in easing much of the anxiety our students feel. In particular, the commitment to generous grading by the minister will, along with the rest if the provisions of this statement allow our students to breathe a sigh of relief.

"It is now imperative that contingency planning continues to take place in a robust and detailed manner and that our students continue to be heard and listened to by the minister and Department of Education."