I've just read the following from one of the Coronavirus boards about exams so have cut and paste it below. The exams in this household are stressful enough already and now I'm worrying about what may happen. Our school has not made one reference about the virus to parents so I am concerned that they will not be prepared. The below is what was posted:
Just see this article in today's Sunday Times:
Exam boards are drawing up plans to delay GCSEs and A-levels amid predictions that the coronavirus epidemic will be at its height as the exam season starts, forcing mass closures of schools.
The boards, working with the exam regulator, Ofqual, are planning “for a range of scenarios”. One is understood to involve looking at predictions of the rise in cases and considering alternative exam dates. A decision is expected shortly. GCSEs and A-level exams are due to start on May 11 and finish in mid-June.
In an attempt to reassure teenagers, Ofqual is planning to waive rules to help those who miss some exams because they fall ill or their school is closed. Any who underperform because of the virus will be awarded “special consideration” grades, in the widest application to date of the concessions, which were applied to pupils caught up in the Grenfell fire disaster.
Those unable to take an exam will be graded based on earlier papers. For candidates who sit the paper but whose performance is affected because they are ill, marks can be adjusted.
“We recognise that students, parents, schools and colleges will be concerned about the possible impact of coronavirus on the 2020 summer exam series,” the exam regulator said this weekend. “Our advice is to continue to prepare for exams as normal . . . Our overriding priorities are fairness and keeping disruption to a minimum.”
At least 40 schools with suspected victims have closed in recent weeks, despite official instructions to the contrary. Head teachers have described the situation as “an unprecedented challenge” and reported that a growing number of parents are keeping children out of school.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), the moderate teachers’ union, has called for school league tables, which record exam results and attendance figures, to be suspended.
He said anxiety levels were high, with some parents keeping children at home. Asthmatic children and those with diabetes or receiving treatment for illnesses such as cancer are thought to be particularly vulnerable.
On Friday the education secretary, Gavin Williamson, will give a speech to the ASCL. He is expected to praise head teachers for staying calm and doing everything they can to help children revise and keep exams on track.
“The main focus for heads is how do we keep young people calm and stop them thinking the exams are not going to happen,” said Barton. “The level of anxiety among children is significant. They know their A-level grades are needed for university. We want to try to give them a chance to sit these exams as normal. It seems dystopian but we may need to bus children between centres if some schools are closed. In primary schools if someone sneezes, children are asking can they move to sit by someone else. Parents are keeping their children at home.”
Private schools are training teachers and pupils on software so that they can offer “e-lessons” and revision sessions online if pupils have to stay at home, though many children do not have their own laptops.
Some university heads argue that while GCSEs could be moved to September relatively easily, A-levels are too important to delay.
Sir Anthony Seldon, vice-chancellor of Buckingham University and a former master of Wellington College, said: “Nothing matters more than safety, but everything must be done to try to make certain that A-level exams can take place. So much hinges on A-level results.
“If there has to be slippage, would it be so bad if GCSEs were held in September? Schools and colleges will still take young people into sixth forms. Also, the numbers taking A-levels is much smaller than GCSEs, so the safety element would be less high.”
Delays to the issuing of the A-level results in August would cause turmoil for sixth formers and universities. Institutions could have to delay the start of the academic year or rely more heavily on applicants’ GCSE results and other information in applications to allocate places.
Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, warned that any disruption could have lasting consequences. “My biggest concern would be if there were one group of young people whose education was severely disrupted by a pandemic to the extent that they are unable to take a full suite of qualifications,” he said. “It will be hard for them to explain that on their CVs for decades to come.”