The Department for Education and Ofqual have released information today about how 2021 A-Level grades will be awarded. This article gives a general overview of what has been announced, and what Study Politics will do to help students where possible.
Centre Assessment Grades (CAGs)
Teacher assessment grades will be used to determine how students would have performed during a regular exam cycle. They will consider a range of factors, including mock exam results, practice essays and other measures used throughout your studies.
Private Candidates
Private candidates will not be disadvantaged due to this. They should work with an exam centre, for example a school or college they would be sitting the exam at, to provide evidence for a centre assessed grade to be calculated.
Exam Board Material
Exam Boards (AQA, Edexcel, etc) will provide a range of resources to help both teachers and students reach the outcomes that reflect ability. This will be made available to teachers initially, but students will have access to the resources wherever possible from schools, and on exam board websites at a later date.
What you need to do
Keep working. It is imperative that students continue to work and complete homework and assessments that teachers set students. It is likely that CAGs will be submitted to exam boards in June, so there is still plenty of time to continue working to improve your grade.
Important and Useful Links
Ofqual’s Report
AQA Website
Edexcel Website
20th January 2021
A consultation has recently been launched by Ofqual for both students and teachers. It is looking at how 2021 A-Level grades will be calculated. We recommend you complete the survey, which should take no longer than 10 minutes. The survey closes on 29th January 2021. Click the link below to complete the survey.
The survey has closed and can no longer be filled out.
6th January 2021
The Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has announced that A-Level and GCSE exams will be cancelled across the UK in Summer 2021. This means that Politics A-Level exams will no longer take place in June. Centre Assessed Grades (CAGs) will now determine the grades of learners. We recommend students follow the advice given on this page from the 5th of January, in order to maximise the grade you could be given by your teacher(s).
5th January 2021
Following the announcement on 4th January 2021, Ofqual and the Department for Education have decided to cancel the Summer 2021 A-Level and GCSE examinations. There is, therefore, some uncertainty as to what this means for teachers. We will update this page on a regular basis with information as we receive it from exam boards, Ofqual and other important sources.
No advice on how grades will be calculated has been published by the DfE at this time. We therefore recommend students do the following:
- Attend your school or college – whether online or in person, it is vital that you spend as much time in lessons as possible to prepare you for the next steps in your career. Make sure you keep up to date with your courses and complete any assignments and work that your teachers set you.
- Master your mocks – if you have mock exams coming up in the next few weeks, we’d recommend putting as much effort into them as you can. If the method is similar to last year, these are likely to play an important role in ascertaining the grade you will receive. Our range of practice papers are great for practicing exam technique.
- Stay updated with exam boards – your exam boards will have important information about what work you need to complete, and any other arrangements that will come into play in subsequent weeks. We will publish them here when we receive them. You can find the links to the exam boards here:
