LONDON, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- Extra measures to "boost fairness and support students" will be used for next summer's GCSE and A-level exams in England, British Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said Thursday.
Confirming that national exams will still go ahead next summer, Williamson said extra measures, including more generous grading, advance notice of exam topics and additional papers, will make GCSE and A-level exams "different" next year, so as to make up for the disruption faced by students during the pandemic.
Students who cannot sit exams due to self-isolation rules will still get a grade, and young people taking vocational and technical qualifications will also see adaptations to their exams to ensure fairness, according to Williamson.
The GCSE is the qualification taken by students to mark their graduation from the Key Stage Four phase of secondary education.
A-level exam results are recognised by many universities as the standard for assessing the suitability of applicants for admission in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
The 2020 exams were cancelled following the start of the first lockdown across England and results were eventually based on teacher-predicted grades.
Williamson's announcement came as England came out of its second national COVID-19 lockdown on Wednesday, but life is still far from normal as the new "tougher" tiers system of coronavirus restrictions kicked in.
To bring life back to normal, countries including Germany, China, Russia, and the United States are racing against time to find a vaccine. Enditem
