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Wales cancels GCSE, A-level exams for 2021

Xinhua English

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LONDON, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Wales decided to cancel end-of-year GCSE and A-level exams for its students in summer 2021, Welsh Education Minister Kirsty Williams announced Tuesday.

Williams said instead of exams, the Welsh government would work with schools and colleges to put in place teacher-managed assessments.

She said this was the fairest way given that the time students spend in school or college could vary greatly, adding that "It is impossible to guarantee a level playing field for exams to take place."

The decision was taken to prioritise "learner wellbeing" and "fairness", she said.

Grades will be based on teacher led assessments which will be externally marked but delivered within a classroom environment.

However, a decision is yet to be made for those studying for vocational qualifications.

Head teachers in Wales would work on a "national approach" to ensure consistency, she said.

According to BBC reports, while many students and head teachers in Wales welcome the decision, some are still asking for more details on the assessment system to make sure it will work as fair and transparent as possible.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there were no plans for England to follow Wales, reported the Guardian newspaper.

"There's no change in our own position in relation to exams," the spokesman said. "We've set out that they will take place slightly later this year, to give students more time to prepare."

"We continue to think that exams are the fairest way of judging a student's performance," the spokesman added.

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.

England last week entered into a month-long national lockdown, the second of its kind since the coronavirus outbreak in Britain, in a bid to quell the resurgence of coronavirus.

To bring life back to normal, countries including Britain, Germany, China, Russia, and the United States are racing against time to find a vaccine. Enditem

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