East of England teaching unions: exam changes have come 'too late'
Students will be forewarned about the topics their exams will cover this summer to make up for Covid-19 disruption
Last updated 8th Feb 2022
Representatives for teaching unions in the East of England have said that changes to exams for GCSE and A-Level students this summer have come too late.
Pupils are being given an advanced warning in time for the exam period later this year, in order to prepare.
It is also expected that grades will be awarded more generously compared to previous years due to Covid disruption.
However, East of England representatives for the National Education Union say teachers and students will still find it challenging to cover everything in time.
Paul McLaughlin, regional secretary for the NEU said: "The government is acting far too late in providing information now about what's happening in the summer.
"There are students who are taking A-Levels this summer who have already completed their mocks and have had over a year to study towards an exam which is now going to be changed in terms of the topics they cover.
"We understand the reasons why there needs to be a narrowing of focus on the exams for this year, but it will present enormous difficulties."
Mr McLaughlin highlighted it would be harder to know which students have missed certain topics and assess it accordingly.
Lower-achieving pupils will also be negatively affected, as they will require more time to study the topics and be given an equal chance.
Keith Anderson from the NASUWT also said that teachers would have to start from scratch.
"Teachers will have planned out their schemes of work for the year and how they are going to be delivered, and then all of a sudden, they can potentially be totally thrown aside.
"You might well be focusing on an alternative topic and then, they turn around and say which topics are going to be focused on for the exams and they want you to do that. It's more work."