Covid: Exams need to be Covid-safe and fair, union says

Exams being sat next week or during the summer need to be fair to pupils and Covid-safe, a teaching union has said.

The Association of School and College Leaders Cymru (ASCL) said changes to exams must not be made at the "last minute" amid ongoing disruption due to Covid.

ASCL director Eithne Hughes said learners waiting to sit exams this month would be feeling "nervous".

Wales' Education Minister Jeremy Miles said exams would go ahead this year.

He was speaking as the Welsh government said it was allocating £100m to address any issues.

Mr Miles said exams were the "fairest" way of assessing pupils, adding: "We're planning on the basis of exams going ahead and that's my message to schools."

He also said there were currently no concerns of "significant widespread disruption" as pupils return this week and they were assessing the situation on a daily basis.

However, unions have already warned staff absences are expected to cause "significant disruption", and some councils have already moved teaching online for some year groups.

Two extra planning days have been given to schools which includes preparing for exams.

Qualifications Wales plan to hold examinations this month and if learners cannot sit them they will have the opportunity to take them in the summer.

Some exams awarded by the WJEC, including GCSEs, General Qualifications and Vocational Awards are due to start on 11 January.

Ms Hughes said pupils in years 11, 12 or 13, due to sit exams next week, would be waiting to see what would happen.

In light of the disruption to school Ms Hughes also called for clarity regarding the summer exams and for a decision to be made "as fast as possible".

Presently the Welsh government and exam regulator Qualifications Wales have said they intend to hold exams.

"We need a decision pretty quickly if there is going to be a change or there is going to be an alteration, it can't be done at the last minute, because that would be deeply unfair to learners who have already had such disruption," Ms Hughes added.

Cerian Rolls, a mother-of-three from Aberdare, Rhondda Cynon Taf and also a teacher, said she had confidence in the system that had developed during Covid.

Her daughter, aged 20, completed A-levels and started university during the pandemic.

"I genuinely believe they did the best they could to accommodate pupils and where they couldn't have them in, went on assessments," she told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast.

"I believe in that system. Teachers spend so much time with pupils, they have a very good understanding of where they are."

She said she believed schools were "much better equipped to deal with the situation now" following the past couple of years, adding they now have "a plan B in their arsenal".

Ms Rolls said they were "going above and beyond" and urged pupils are parents to try and remain "calm and positive".

During the last week of the Christmas term, provisional figures show school attendance was 74.2% for year 11 and 68.5% for year 13, the years sitting GCSEs and A-levels respectively.

This week some councils also delayed face to face teaching for some year groups until the second week of the spring term.

In Ceredigion, schools will fully re-open on 10 January with distance learning in place for the majority of pupils by Friday.

Wrexham and Flintshire councils are reviewing how lessons will run depending on staffing and sickness levels.

Of the new funding announced on Wednesday, £50m from the Sustainable Communities for Learning programme is being set aside to help schools carry out repair and improvement work and to support decarbonisation.

Revenue funding of £45m will also help support school budgets to help them deal with the ongoing impacts of the pandemic and to prepare for the requirements of the new curriculum.

An additional £8m will be handed to further education colleges from central Covid reserves to ensure learning can continue safely and ensure the most disadvantaged learners are not further impacted by the pandemic.

Minister for Education and the Welsh Language Jeremy Miles said: "This funding will further support our schools and colleges to keep settings as Covid-secure as possible.

"While we want to support the sector in recovering from the pandemic, we also have to make sure we continue to plan for the future, and help all education settings across Wales fulfil our collective goals of making Wales a net-zero nation."