Pupils sitting GCSE and A-levels in Wales next year will not get any support through grade boundaries or advance information on questions, exams chiefs have said. It follows two years in which pupils have benefited from kinder grade boundaries and advance information on exam content to compensate them for the disruption to their education during Covid.
Exam results in Wales are likely to fall after years of above average grades as the system returns to “largely” to pre-pandemic conditions. Qualifications Wales said the only remaining Covid support measure would be “statistical protection” to stop grades falling “substantially below pre-pandemic levels, at a subject level”, the exam regulator said.
This measure is the “final step” on the way back to usual assessment arrangements, following support put in place during the pandemic. In summer 2023 more than one in 10 results at the top A*-A grades.
Qualifications Wales said support given in the last two academic years was the right thing to do in the circumstances but admitted that “meant that we could not maintain standards in the normal way”. The regulator said it was vital to maintain confidence in the Welsh qualifications system and ensure results were comparable with peers across the border.
GCSE, A level, AS level exams and assessments took place in Wales in summer this year with extra support still given. This included some advance information of the content of exams and a grading approach to keep results midway between 2022’s record results and pre-pandemic results.
In England, which returned to pre-pandemic exam arrangements this year, record-low results were posted amid claims that it was unfair and too soon. Top A*-A grades at A levels in England fell from 35.9% in 2022 to 26.5% in summer this year. That compares to 34% of entries in Wales graded at A or A* in 2023 and 40.9% in 2022.
