The great pandemic GCSE and A-level experiment: what if we never went back to the old system?

By Jan McArthur, Senior Lecturer in Education and Social Justice, Lancaster University

The cancellation of exams due to the pandemic has meant that 2021 has been a year of hurried experimentation in school assessment. But despite claims of grade inflation under the temporary system deployed this year, it’s worth considering whether there is anything we can take away from this experience to improve things in the future.

This year’s A-level and GCSE results were decided via teacher assessment. They are being treated as an anomaly…

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