Summer Exams: thank you for your support
With the summer break just a few weeks away, I would like to send my sincere thanks to you and your colleagues for all your hard work and support over the past year.
Returning to exams has been a huge undertaking for schools and colleges across the country, and I appreciate the professionalism the whole education community has shown to ensure their effective delivery this summer.
There have been challenges along the way, and whilst there are always things for us to learn from every exam series. I have already acknowledged and apologised publicly for any issues that are of our making and for any impact on learners. We will, as always, continue to learn as an organisation.
As we switch our attention to marking your learners’ scripts, we are proud of our track record for providing accurate results, and this year all our examiners have undertaken additional training, to take account of adaptations. Of course, as in any assessment series, they will also be subject to a series of quality assurance checks, to meet the high standards we expect.
Our teams of specialists will then focus on the awarding process and setting of grade boundaries for each qualification. We will need to implement Qualifications Wales’ policy directive, to make sure that this summer’s grading will be more generous than in a normal year.
Working within our guidelines, we are confident that your learners will be awarded fair results this summer and are committed to doing everything we can to ensure their grades reflect their hard work and enable them to progress.
We’re committed to building relationships, and it’s been great to meet Heads and key representatives from schools and colleges across Wales to see first-hand how exams were reintroduced. I was impressed by the dedication shown by teaching colleagues and the honest feedback provided by learners.
Looking beyond assessment, I am pleased to confirm that significant progress has been made in the development of the Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales. The draft specification is now available on our website, giving a strong indication of the qualification structure and content. Work is already underway to announce its approval by Qualifications Wales, alongside a raft of activities to support the delivery of this exciting new qualification including interactive professional learning courses and tailored digital resources.
Furthermore, centres in Wales will be delivering our new Level 1 /2 Vocational Qualifications from September. Our subject teams will be on hand to provide advice and guidance, and resources are being developed to aid their delivery.
For now, I wish you all the very best for the remainder of the term and wish you a restful summer break.
Ian