Covid: Isle of Man GCSE and A-levels assessed by teachers

A-level and GCSE students on the Isle of Man will once again have their grades estimated by teachers this year, the education minister has said.

Cambridge International Education (CI) has scrapped exams for students in Years 11 and 13 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

It mirrors a similar move by UK exams boards last month.

Alex Allinson said the move would give students the "best possible chance to achieve the grades they deserve".

Exams regulated by the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation and the Welsh Joint Education Committee have already been cancelled.

Students on the island take exams set by a mixture of exam boards, the majority of which are offered by CI.

It will be the second consecutive year that pupils' grades will be assessed by their teachers based on classroom tests and coursework as a result of the pandemic.

The decision to award grades different from those predicted last year sparked anger from parents and teachers, leading to a U-turn by CI.

The changes will impact IGCSE, GCSE and A-level qualifications, as well as technical courses including BTEC and OCR National Courses.

Practical exams for vocational based courses will still go ahead as normal, a government spokesman said.

Julia Minay, whose son and daughter are studying A-levels and GCSEs respectively, said her children had mixed feelings about the move.

As her daughter tends to do "a lot of last minute study and cramming", she tends to do better in exams so it was "not such good news for her", she said.

"Luckily she did actually sit some core exams at the beginning of this school year, so she has some proper grades," she added.

Her son however was "not so bothered" about the development as he had gone through the same process last year, Ms Minay continued.

"The worry with the A-levels this year is that you have children potentially going to university that have not managed to sit a single A-level exam, so they may or may not have been judged fairly."

Dr Allinson said it was important to "put the needs of our young people first and provide clarity to our teachers at this challenging time".

"These outcomes are extremely significant and we will be working closely with schools to support our young people and our hard working teachers through the process," he added.

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