DfE and Ofqual confirm plans for summer 2023

Thursday 29 Sep 2022

Grading in 2023

GCSE, AS, and A-level exams in England will largely return to pre-pandemic arrangements next summer as young people continue to recover from the pandemic. In line with the plans set out last September, Ofqual has confirmed a return to pre-pandemic grading in 2023.

To protect students against the disruption of recent years, and in case students' performance is slightly lower than before the pandemic, senior examiners will use the grades achieved by previous cohorts of pupils, along with prior attainment data, to inform their decisions about where to set grade boundaries.

This mirrors the approach used in the first years of reformed GCSEs and A levels in 2017, when early cohorts were protected against the impact of changes to the qualifications and means, for example, a typical A level student who would have achieved a grade A before the pandemic will be just as likely to get an A this summer.

You can read Ofqual's blog about grading in 2023.

Support for students in summer 2023

The government has also confirmed that there will be no advance information in summer 2023, but students should still get support in GCSE mathematics, physics and combined science with formulae and equation sheets.

Ofqual has launched a consultation on the plans for formulae and equation sheets. The consultation will be open for 3 weeks starting on 29 September 2022 and ending on 20 October 2022 at 11:45pm.

Ofqual is also asking for views on a proposed adaptation to the assessment of GCSE modern foreign languages (MFL) qualifications for students in England taking exams from summer 2023. That is, carrying forward the use of vocabulary changes that were made to last year's qualifications, to future assessments. This consultation will also be open for 3 weeks starting on 29 September 2022 and ending on 20 October 2022 at 11:45pm.

Non-exam assessment, fieldwork and practical science

Ofqual already announced earlier this year that pre-pandemic arrangements for non-exam assessment, fieldwork and practical science have been reinstated. The department confirmed at the same time that schools and colleges this year will be teaching the full content of qualifications to students taking exams in 2023.

Vocational and technical, and other qualifications (VTQs)

Arrangements for VTQs and other general qualifications were confirmed in May 2022. Ofqual does not expect any further adaptations to be used in VTQs. Exam boards are expected to take account of the approach, including in relation to grading, used in general qualifications so that students taking VTQs are not advantaged or disadvantaged in comparison.

Ensuring the resilience of the qualifications system in 2023

With the return to exams, the national closure of schools or cancellation of exams – which would mean using alternative assessment arrangements – is now very unlikely. The government does not expect to ever be in the situation again where exams do not go ahead, but they've recognised that good public policy means having contingency, even for extremely unlikely scenarios.

The DfE and Ofqual invites views on guidance to schools and colleges about gathering assessment evidence to support resilience in the exams system in the unlikely event it is necessary to use that evidence to inform Teacher Assessed Grades. It's designed to allow schools and colleges to determine arrangements to gather evidence that align with their normal arrangements for preparing students for exams. This consultation will open on 29 September and close on 20 October at 11:45 pm.

Provisional exam timetables

We've published our June 2023 provisional exam timetables for GCSE, AS and A-Level. Feedback about the spacing between exams in the same subject in summer 2022 has been taken on board and this will largely continue, although the spacing between the papers will be slightly reduced next summer. This should still help to avoid the situation of a student missing all exams within a subject.

Please email us with any feedback by Thursday 13 October 2022.

Special consideration

The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) has reviewed the summer 2022 arrangements for special consideration. Where a student was absent from an exam or assessment for an acceptable reason, they could receive a grade as long as they had completed at least one entire component of a qualification. This will now be adopted for all future exam series and will make it easier for both schools and colleges and exam boards to identify eligible students.

The JCQ will update its Guide to the Special Consideration Process with further details on this.