Plans to offer advanced notice of exam topics in England next year

After a hard year and a half for schools and students, the government and exams regulator Ofqual has laid out proposals for the 2022 summer exam season, looking for ways to take the strain off students.

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One of the major points in this proposal is that schools and colleges will be offered some choice over the content which will be assessed, allowing them to forewarn students about the exam topics they will be facing in tests. This will mean students will be able to focus their studies more specifically on the material they are sure they will be examined on, rather than stretching themselves to learn a breadth of material on which they may or may not receive questions on.

Other measures being considered include bringing in formulae sheets for GCSE maths meaning students won’t have to memorise formulas and an expanded equations sheet for GCSE physics.

Talking about the proposal, Education Minister Gavin Williamson, said: “Exams will always be the fairest way to assess students, which is why they will take place next year, but it's right that next summer's arrangements take into account the disruption young people have faced over the past 18 months.”

However, the move is facing backlash from many of those in the education sector as being too-little-too-late. There is now a three-week consultation on the proposed changes in which the views of students, parents and teachers will be considered but many fear that, as this falls over the summer holidays, it’s too late as changes will only be confirmed at the start of the new school year.

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Talking to the BBC, Nick Brook, deputy general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers explained: “In reality, all of this should have been put to bed weeks, if not months, ago - we are only days away from the end of term.

"School leaders wanted decisions for adaptations and contingencies made before the summer break, with details before the start of term in September, not least because August will be a busy month supporting students with their results and working on reviews and appeals.”

It'll be interesting to see what the outcome of this consultation is and how it will affect our children moving forward. We all know the struggle that young people especially have faced during the COVD-19 pandemic with disruptions to schooling so any measures being brought in place to help take the pressure off will be welcome.

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