GCSE, A-Level and VTQ results will be decided by teachers this summer, the Education Minister has confirmed.
Gavin Williamson made the announcement on Thursday, (February 25) stating that students will receive grades awarded and determined by their teachers, assessed only on what they have been taught.
Teachers can use a ‘range of evidence’ to determine grades – including questions provided by exam boards, mock exams, coursework, or other work completed as part of a pupil’s course, such as essays or in-class tests.
In an attempt to avoid the results fiasco of summer 2020 – which saw 40% of A-Level marks downgraded after the exams regulator employed a controversial formula – no algorithm will be used.
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Exam boards will also provide ‘detailed guidance’ for teachers – who will submit their grades by June 18.
Results days for GCSE, A level and some vocational qualifications will now take place in the week of August 9.
The government has said extra checks will be made where regulators ‘identify cause for concern’.
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Every student will have the right to appeal their grade.
We have announced how grades will be awarded this summer, including GCSEs, A levels and VTQs.
Students will receive grades awarded by teachers, with pupils only assessed on what they have been taught.
The Education Minister said this was the “fairest possible system for pupils”.
He stated: “Young people have shown incredible resilience over the last year, continuing with their learning amidst unprecedented challenges while the country battles with this pandemic. Those efforts deserve to be fairly rewarded.
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“That’s why we are providing the fairest possible system for those pupils, asking those who know them best – their teachers – to determine their grades, with our sole aim to make sure all young people can progress to the next stage of their education or career.”
Ofqual’s Interim Chief Regulator Simon Lebus said the “aim is to make it no harder overall for this year’s students to receive a particular grade than students in other years.”
He commented: “I am confident that these arrangements will allow all parts of the education and training sector to work together collectively to make sure students’ grades reflect what they have achieved and provide a sound basis to enable them to make good decisions about their future.”
Most pupils have been learning from home since the beginning of the third lockdown.
In the roadmap to exiting restrictions, Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed that students would return to classrooms on March 8.
The government has also confirmed that it will encourage education facilities to run ‘summer schools‘ – mainly targeted at Year 7 age groups – in an attempt to help pupils ‘catch up’ for missed learning.
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Manchester music store Forsyth is giving away free music lessons
The Manc
Manchester music store Forsyth is giving away a host of free music lessons next month in a bid to inspire people to learn a new instrument, or pick up an old one.
The store is giving new and returning musicians a chance to receive a 10–15-minute free music taster session as part of its Music for All Learn to Play ’22 event.
Taking place across 8 and 9 October between 10am-5pm (8 October) and 1130am-30pm (9 October),short taster music lessons will allow all ages and abilities to have a musical experience that could turn into a lifetime of enjoyment, or even a new career.
Speaking on the free music lesson initiative, Emma from Forsyths said: “The past two years have shown how important music is to all our lives and how it can bring people together even in the most difficult of circumstances.
“We aim to help as many people as possible understand the unique joys and benefits of learning an instrument (or taking part in a choir).
“Anyone interested in learning to play an instrument or looking to pick it up again, should come and join us for this two-day celebration of music making.
“We’re delighted to be part of Music for All’s Learn to Play ’22 event, and we can’t wait to get started.”
OBE Jools Holland, Patron of Music for All, said: “Making music is very important to me. It’s my work, my pleasure, my friend, companion and therapist.
The charity Music for All believes passionately in the unique power of music to change lives and that is why it runs Learn to Play.
Music for All believes everyone should have equal access to music making.
The charity supports disadvantaged music makers by providing cash grants for tuition and instruments and by donating instruments directly.
The Learn to Play ’22 event is generously supported by the NAMM Foundation and other partners include Music Industries Association, Musicians Union, Making Music, Music Mark and Black Lives in Music.
Those interested in joining Forsyths for a free music lesson simply need to email [email protected] or pop into the Sheet Music department on the ground floor to register interest.
Celebrated author Dame Hilary Mantel has died ‘suddenly yet peacefully’ aged 70
Emily Sergeant
Dame Hilary Mantel has died aged 70.
The unexpected passing of the critically-acclaimed author whose celebrated career spans nearly five decades has just been announced by her agents 4th Estate Books and her publishing team at HarperCollins in two separate statements released this morning – who confirmed that she died “suddenly yet peacefully”.
The Glossop-born writer was famed for historical fiction work, and was most-known for being the author of the beloved Wolf Hall trilogy.
The statement by her agents confirming her passing reads: “We are heartbroken at the death of our beloved author, Dame Hilary Mantel, and our thoughts are with her friends and family, especially her husband, Gerald.
“This is a devastating loss and we can only be grateful she left us with such a magnificent body of work.”
We are heartbroken at the death of our beloved author, Dame Hilary Mantel, and our thoughts are with her friends and family, especially her husband, Gerald. This is a devastating loss and we can only be grateful she left us with such a magnificent body of work. pic.twitter.com/d8bzkBBXuH
Mantel’s publishers HarperCollins called her “one of the greatest English novelists of this century”.
The company’s statement reads: “It is with great sadness that AM Heath and HarperCollins announce that bestselling author Dame Hilary Mantel DBE died suddenly yet peacefully yesterday, surrounded by close family and friends, aged 70.
“Hilary Mantel was one of the greatest English novelists of this century and her beloved works are considered modern classics.
Mantel has twice been awarded the Booker Prize, the first time for the 2009 novel Wolf Hall, a fictional account of Thomas Cromwell’s rise to power in the court of Henry VIII, and secondly for the 2012 novel Bring Up the Bodies, the second instalment of the Cromwell trilogy.
She was the first woman, and fourth person, to receive the award twice.
The Manc -
25th February 2021 
