Exams in England will be replaced by school-based assessments

GCSE and A-level exams in England will be replaced by school-based assessments, the Education Secretary has announced.

In a speech to MPs, Gavin Williamson confirmed that this summer’s exams are cancelled.

The announcement is the Government’s latest screeching U-turn, after Mr Williamson insisted only a month ago that exams would “absolutely” go ahead.

He told the Commons that exams were the “fairest” way of assessing what a student knows but the impact of the pandemic meant it was “not possible” to have them this year.

The Education Secretary admitted that last year’s algorithm “did not deliver what they needed” and the impact was “felt painfully” by students and their parents.

He added: “This year, we’re going to put our trust in teachers, rather than algorithms.”

This summer, a form of teacher-assessed grades will be used along with training to ensure grades are awarded “fairly and consistently”.

In a response to a question, Mr Williamson confirmed that SAT testing will not go ahead.

The education secretary said: “We do recognise that this will be an additional burden on schools and it’s very important that we’re very much focused on welcoming students back into the classroom at the very earliest opportunity.”