Pupils who have missed out on lessons due to coronavirus are set to receive ‘easier’ entry to universities under plans to make lower A-level offers to students hit hardest.
The Department for Education and Ofqual are reportedly looking at plans which would see universities being given data by schools on lost learning hours with the Government set to issue plans next week.
Headteachers have protested that going ahead with GCSEs and A-levels would be unfair after pupils in the north of England have been most disrupted by Covid-19.
Pupils who have missed out on lessons due to coronavirus are set to receive ‘easier’ entry to universities under plans to make lower A-level offers to students hit hardest (stock image)
It comes after a record 600,000 secondary school pupils off school last week either absent, unwell or isolating, according to The Sunday Times.
Education secretary Gavin Williamson is battling to avoid a U-turn over exams next year and is reportedly looking at plans to score pupils generously similar to this summer amid the disruption caused by the pandemic.
Teachers will also be told to warn teenagers against kissing outside of school in order to give exams the best possibility of going ahead, according to The Sunday Times.
Education secretary Gavin Williamson is battling to avoid a U-turn over exams next summer and is reportedly looking at plans to score pupils generously amid the disruption caused by the pandemic
The University of Oxford and The University of Cambridge are understood to have contacted schools to find out how many hours of teaching candidates have missed.
The top universities plan to start online interviews in December and are reportedly planning to show leniency to high-achieving pupils at schools with high infection rates.
English teacher Rebecca Daniel, 33, from Kent, told MailOnline: ‘Not only have sixth form and college students missed out on essential teaching hours but it is also important to consider that, as a result of the pandemic, their wellbeing and mindset may have also been impacted.
‘It is vital to support young people who wish to take the next step in their educational journey.’
English teacher Rebecca Daniel, 33, from Kent, told MailOnline: ‘Not only have sixth form and college students missed out on essential teaching hours but it is also important to consider that, as a result of the pandemic, their wellbeing and mindset may have also been impacted’
She added: ‘However we need to be mindful that if the entry requirements are lowered additional support needs to put in place to help individuals succeed.
‘By lowering the entry requirements there’s a possibility that this could further have a detrimental impact on their wellbeing and mindset as they may not have the skills, knowledge and understanding to successfully complete a postgraduate course.
‘However, if necessary guidance, support and adjustments are implemented this can help young people to thrive and not hinder their progress.’
Wales is the latest UK country to halt its exams programme for next year, after the summer 2020 grading system in England and Scotland descended into farce over computer-calculated grades.
The University of Oxford (pictured) and The University of Cambridge are understood to have contacted schools to find out how many hours of teaching candidates have misse
Scotland has said its National 5 exams – equivalent to GCSEs – will be replaced by assessments next year.
So far exams in England have been delayed by three weeks to allow students to catch up, despite union demands for them to be completely abandoned.
Sarah Mulholland, head of policy at the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said there was already a north/south divide in terms of attendance because of varying Covid rates.
‘What the Welsh education minister has realised – unlike Gavin Williamson – is that we’re at risk of repeating the same mistake we saw on results day this summer unless we change course now,’ she said.
The top universities, (pictured, King’s College Chapel, University of Cambridge) plan to start online interviews in December and are reportedly planning to show leniency to high-achieving pupils at schools with high infection rates.
‘It is either naive or wilfully ignorant of the Government to pretend that there is any hope of achieving a fair, level playing-field for pupils when there are huge disparities both in attendance and a child’s ability to work from home.’
But No10 this afternoon refused to follow Wales’s lead. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said today: ‘There is no change in our own position in relation to exams
‘I think we have set out that they will take place slightly later this year to give students more time to prepare.
‘We fully understand that they have experience considerable disruption and it is right that we give them and their teachers that extra time.’