Decisios o Fial Etries to Legacy GCSEs, AS ad A Levels I December 2015 we published a cosultatio about proposals for resits i or legacy GCSE, AS ad A levels that are due to be replaced by ew reformed versios. We also cosulted o the rules that we proposed to put i place to give effect to our proposals. We have reviewed the resposes to the cosultatio ad are ow aoucig our decisios. We are also publishig a more detailed aalysis of the resposes alogside this documet. 1 Summary of our decisios Followig cosultatio, we have decided that: Studets takig legacy AS ad A levels will have the opportuity to resit these qualificatios after the fial scheduled award, regardless of the subject. These resits will be i May or Jue of the followig year. At GCSE will require exam boards to provide: two resit opportuities i relatio to legacy GCSEs i Eglish, Eglish laguage ad mathematics (icludig liked pair maths GCSEs applicatios of mathematics ad methods i mathematics ), oe i November 2016 ad oe i summer 2017, ad a resit opportuity, o later tha summer 2018, i all GCSE sciece ad additioal sciece qualificatios they curretly offer. Exam boards may decide to offer GCSEs i Biology, Chemistry ad Physics but we will ot require them to. At GCSE we will also allow, but ot require, exam boards to offer a sigle resit opportuity i the year followig the last scheduled sittig i ay other legacy GCSE subject There will be restrictios o who ca take both the GCSE ad AS ad A level resits. 1 https://www.gov.uk/govermet/cosultatios/resits-for-legacy-gcse-as-ad-a-levels Ofqual/16/5887 March 2016
Decisios o Fial Etries to Legacy GCSEs, AS ad A Levels We summarise below what respodets told us i respose to our cosultatio. We also set out further details of our decisios, icludig who ca take these resits ad the regulatory requiremets we will use to give effect to our decisios. Resits i AS ad A level qualificatios For AS ad A levels we proposed that: Studets takig AS ad A levels i the last scheduled sittig should have the opportuity to resit these qualificatios after the fial scheduled award, regardless of the subject ad exam board. Resit opportuities i AS ad A level subjects where ew qualificatios were itroduced i September 2015 2, will be available i the legacy qualificatios i May/Jue 2017. AS ad A2 uits for these qualificatios will be available to all studets i the ormal way i May/Jue 2016. Resits will take place i May or Jue. Studets will be able to resit ay AS or A2 uits (icludig cotrolled assessmet uits). Oly those studets who have take the qualificatio previously, or who had good reaso ot to have take it whe plaed (such as illess) ca take a resit. Similar arragemets should be put i place for the later phases of AS ad A level reform. 3 Most cosultatio respodets, 95 per cet of those who respoded, agreed with our proposed approach to the availability of resit arragemets i legacy AS ad A level qualificatios. Five per cet of respodets either agreed or disagreed with what we proposed with may commetig that they did ot teach A level qualificatios, or their school did ot offer A level qualificatios. Oly oe respodet disagreed with the approach. We have idetified o issues with the proposals we cosulted o ad have therefore decided to cofirm our approach i this area, as proposed. 2 New AS ad A levels available for first teachig from September 2015: art ad desig, biology, busiess, chemistry, computer sciece, ecoomics, Eglish laguage, Eglish laguage ad literature, Eglish literature, history, physics, psychology, sociology. 3 www.gov.uk/guidace/withdrawal-of-legacy-gcses-as-ad-a-levels Ofqual 2016 2
Decisios o Fial Etries to Legacy GCSEs, AS ad A Levels Resits i GCSE Eglish, Eglish laguage ad mathematics qualificatios For GCSEs i Eglish, Eglish laguage ad mathematics we oted i our cosultatio that we had already cofirmed that: Studets takig GCSEs i Eglish, Eglish laguage ad mathematics (icludig liked pair maths GCSEs applicatios of mathematics ad methods i mathematics ) i summer 2016 will have a resit opportuity i November 2016. If a studet resits ay of these qualificatios, the as ow they will eed to resit all the exams for that qualificatio. Studets will be able to carry forward the results of the speakig ad listeig cotrolled assessmet i GCSE Eglish ad GCSE Eglish laguage (icludig betwee the two subjects whe resittig with the same exam board) but they will also be able to resit this part of the qualificatio if they prefer. Oly those studets who have take the qualificatio previously, who have good reaso ot to have take it whe plaed (such as illess), or who are aged 16 or above o 31 August i the year of the last scheduled sittig ca take these resits. We sought views o whether studets should also have a further resit opportuity i May/Jue 2017, ad suggested that this should be limited to those aged 16 o 31 August i the year of the last scheduled sittig or over oly. A majority of respodets, 96 percet of those respodig, agreed that a further resit opportuity should be made available i Eglish, Eglish laguage ad maths. A small umber of respodets, icludig some of the exam boards that offer these qualificatios, raised cocers about the maageability of such a resit i terms of issues relatig to timetablig ad etry dates ad also i relatio to the burdes such a resit would impose. The majority of respodets raised differet issues. As we set out i our cosultatio, these qualificatios are required for progressio for may studets. May respodets reiterated that poit, ad oted that this meas that there is sigificat demad for these subjects to be taught i oe-year programmes i schools ad colleges. They argued that there is curretly demad for such courses, ad the fact that govermet expects that studets will cotiue to study Eglish ad mathematics post-16 if they have ot achieved a grade C or above i their GCSEs is oe reaso why the umbers udertakig such courses are likely to be sigificat. Respodets said that without a resit opportuity i summer 2017, studets i this year of reform would be placed at a disadvatage compared to those i ay other Ofqual 2016 3
Decisios o Fial Etries to Legacy GCSEs, AS ad A Levels year who are able to carry o studyig the qualificatio they have already begu. New GCSEs i Eglish, Eglish laguage ad mathematics have differet cotet requiremets ad assessmet requiremets, so studets would otherwise fid a proportio of the ew GCSE cotet ufamiliar. We asked i the cosultatio for further evidece o this issue. The cosultatio has show clear evidece of the demad for such resits ad the impact ot havig such a resit opportuity would have o a sigificat umber of studets. We have cosidered the maageability cocers that have bee raised if a secod resit opportuity is provided. We judge that these ca be addressed. We have therefore decided that there will be two resit opportuities i relatio to legacy GCSEs i Eglish, Eglish laguage ad mathematics (icludig liked pair maths GCSEs applicatios of mathematics ad methods i mathematics ), oe i November 2016 ad oe i summer 2017. I lie with our proposal i the cosultatio, this secod resit will be limited oly to those that are aged 16 o 31 August 2016. Resits i GCSE sciece qualificatios We proposed that there would be o resit opportuities i other GCSE subjects that are subject to reform, although we asked i the cosultatio specifically about GCSEs i sciece subjects. A sigificat umber of respodets to the cosultatio, 42 per cet of those respodig, disagreed with our proposal that GCSE resits should oly be available i GCSEs i Eglish, Eglish laguage ad mathematics, with several specifically metioig that sciece GCSEs should be a exceptio. We oted i the cosultatio that GCSE sciece is a requiremet for some specific destiatios, such as iitial teacher traiig. Respodets to the cosultatio also highlighted this, ad the fact that it is required for some other courses, such as ursig ad midwifery. They also oted that there are sigificat differeces betwee the cotet ad structure of reformed sciece GCSEs ad the legacy versios. I particular, some respodets said that for studets that had studied the curret qualificatios, it would be particularly difficult to access the ew GCSEs as a alterative, as the ew practical skills expectatios are based aroud studets completig a two year course of study. Some respodets oted the disadvatages of allowig resits i other GCSE subjects such as sciece, highlightig the likely low uptake, fiacial implicatios for exam boards ad other cocers aroud timetablig ad stadards. Iformed by this feedback, we have decided to require exam boards to provide a resit i GCSE sciece ad additioal sciece. Studets will be able to resit their exams i these subjects. Where they do they will eed to resit all the exams for that qualificatio ad either carry forward their cotrolled assessmet results or resit this Ofqual 2016 4
Decisios o Fial Etries to Legacy GCSEs, AS ad A Levels part of the qualificatio. This will allow a resit opportuity for those studets who eed GCSE sciece qualificatios i order to progress. We have decided ot to require exam boards to offer all qualificatios withi the existig GCSE sciece suite. We thik that the qualificatios we have required will support studets progressio. To require exam boards to offer all of their existig sciece GCSEs would place a sigificat additioal burde o them. We will ot prevet exam boards from offerig a wider rage of GCSE sciece qualificatios should they wish to do. So log as oly oe resit opportuity is provided i each GCSE sciece ad additioal sciece qualificatio a exam board is offerig we do ot thik that there is a compellig case for us to specify the timig of it. For this reaso, the timig of these resits i is a decisio that will be take by exam boards, though resits must be offered ot later tha summer 2018. Our expectatios for who ca take these qualificatios are cosistet with other GCSE subjects. Oly those studets that have take ay GCSE sciece qualificatio previously or have good reaso ot to have take oe (such as illess) or who are 16 or above o 31 August i the year of the last scheduled sittig ca take these resits. Resits i other GCSE qualificatios As set out above, 42 per cet of respodets to the cosultatio disagreed with our proposal that GCSE resits should ot be available i other GCSE subjects. A umber of those respodets metioed subjects that form part of the govermet s Eglish Baccalaureate performace measure specifically as oes for which a resit should be offered. Our proposed approach to requirig resit opportuities to be made available has bee o the basis of whether the qualificatio is eeded for progressio. For AS ad A level subjects, ad for GCSEs i Eglish, Eglish laguage, mathematics, ad sciece, progressio is the guidig priciple we have used i our decisio-makig to require resit opportuities to be provided. For other GCSE subjects, we have ot judged it ecessary to require exam boards to provide a resit opportuity. These subjects are ot ormally specifically required for progressio. Curretly studets do ot ofte take resits i the subjects. We set out the umbers of studets that resit GCSE qualificatios curretly i our cosultatio. 4 Outside the subjects for which we have required resits, ad based o curret patters, we estimate the umber of studets that ormally resit other GCSE subjects ot to be higher i ay subject tha 200 studets per year. As we set out above, some respodets to our cosultatio oted the disadvatages of allowig resits i other subjects, highlightig that they thought resits i other GCSE subjects are likely to be take by oly small umbers of studets, are expesive for exam boards to 4 www.gov.uk/govermet/cosultatios/resits-for-legacy-gcse-as-ad-a-levels Ofqual 2016 5
Decisios o Fial Etries to Legacy GCSEs, AS ad A Levels provide, create issues with timetablig for studets ad make settig appropriate stadards difficult. Give this, we have cocluded that there are o other subjects, i additio to those oted above, for which we will require exam boards to provide a resit opportuity. However, we do ot thik it is ecessary to prohibit exam boards offerig resits i other subjects if they wish. Therefore we have decided to allow exam boards to provide oe resit opportuity i ay other GCSE subject. That way if there is demad for a resit i a particular subject, exam boards will be able to meet it. If a exam board decides to offer such a resit opportuity, we will require it takes place i the academic year followig the last scheduled sittig ad that the restrictios o who ca take the resit that we have put i place for other GCSE subjects will apply. We recogise that exam boards will cosider the costs of providig resits ad that fees for resits might be higher tha those for curret qualificatios. We will ot require exams boards to offer a resit for a qualificatio that o studet wishes to take. Exam boards will set the dates by which etries must be made. New Geeral Coditio of Recogitio We cosulted o itroducig a ew Geeral Coditio of Recogitio that will require exam boards to comply with ay requiremets we set whe a accredited qualificatio eds. Most cosultatio respodets did ot raise ay issues with the draft Coditio. We will adopt the draft Coditio D9 ito our Geeral Coditios of Recogitio. Savig ad trasitioal provisios The savig ad trasitioal provisios we cosulted o provide the mechaism by which we give effect to the detailed decisios we have take. Several commets i respose to our cosultatio oted that the draft savig ad trasitioal provisios refer to resit opportuities beig available to those who have certificated, ad oted that this may rule out learers who were uclassified. Our itetio was ot to prevet studets who sat the exams but achieved a uclassified result from resittig the qualificatio. We will revise the draftig of this provisio ahead of publicatio, to esure that those with uclassified results are ot excluded from beig able to resit. No further relevat commets were made i relatio to the draftig of the savig ad trasitioal provisios, ad we will adopt these requiremets ito our regulatory framework, subject to some chages to reflect the decisios outlied above. Equalities impact assessmet The cosultatio resposes highlighted o substative ew issues i additio to those we cosidered the equalities impact assessmet we set out i our cosultatio Ofqual 2016 6
Decisios o Fial Etries to Legacy GCSEs, AS ad A Levels proposals 5. As we set out i that documet, our decisio ot to require exam boards to make available a resit i all GCSE subjects may have a egative impact o a studet with a protected characteristic should that studet because of their disability, or as a result of their pregacy, materity or geder reassigmet, ot take their assessmets whe plaed. We balaced that issue agaist the costs ad difficulties that offerig resits i all GCSE subjects would preset i makig our proposals. As set out above, although we have ot decided to require resits i these subjects, we will allow exam boards to offer them. This may mitigate the egative impact such studets could face. The chages we have made to our cosultatio proposals, to require a additioal summer resit i GCSE Eglish, Eglish Laguage ad Mathematics ad i GCSE sciece ad additioal sciece qualificatios, will address some cocers some people raised about egative impacts o those with protected characteristics from ot havig access to such resits. Next steps We will publish regulatory requiremets to give effect to our decisios shortly. Exam boards will offer resit opportuities for the relevat qualificatios as set out i this documet ad, i detail for each subject, o our website at the lik below. I additio, exam boards may decide to offer resit opportuities i other GCSE subjects. Impact for each existig GCSE, AS ad A level subject We have set out for all legacy GCSE, AS ad A level subjects: whe the last courses begi (assumig a two-year course of study for GCSEs, ad a coupled two-year course of study for AS ad A level, with AS exams take at the ed of year 12 or 13, ad A level exams take at the ed of year 13) whe the last exams will take place, ad our requiremets for if (ad whe) studets will have a opportuity to resit their exams which (if ay) reformed qualificatio will replace it if a subject is ot beig replaced, the reaso why. This ca be foud here: https://www.gov.uk/guidace/timigs-for-the-withdrawal-oflegacy-gcses-as-ad-a-levels 5 www.gov.uk/govermet/cosultatios/resits-for-legacy-gcse-as-ad-a-levels Ofqual 2016 7