The leader of a major academy chain has called for the scrapping of a proposal for “mini-exams” for this year’s GCSEs and A levels to “relieve stress” on schools.

The Rev Steve Chalke, founder of the Oasis academy trust, said this morning that reducing pressure on teachers would help schools to stay open, and suggested that a major change to the Ofqual and Department for Education plans for GCSEs and A levels this year would help.

They proposed that optional papers set by exam boards could provide a major plank of teacher assessment for this year’s grading. But critics have described these papers as “mini exams” and called for teachers to have more freedom.

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Now The Rev Chalke has called on the DfE and Ofqual to “relieve stress”.

“Finally announce that we are not doing mini-exams,” he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

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“We all know it’s potty. Announce it and say it’s going to be teachers’ assessment.

“You take the stress away and you allow the staff, who we need to respect, to work hard on this [school opening] plan. Announce the plan.”

Final plans for this year’s GCSEs and A levels are due to be announced next week.

The DfE and Ofqual have suggested teachers “could” use exam board papers to grade students. 

But whether these papers are optional or compulsory was a key question in the now-closed consultation.

Headteachers’ leaders have already warned that external tasks set by exam boards as part of the evidence for grading this year should not be viewed as “mini-exams”, and said that schools should be given the flexibility on how they use them - if at all.

A DfE spokesperson said: “Fairness to young people has been and will continue to be fundamental to every decision we take on these issues. We know how important this is to teachers, parents and students, which is why we have made sure everyone is able to have their say in our exams consultation.

“The consultation closed with over 100,000 responses, making it the department’s largest ever. We are working closely with the sector and Ofqual to take all these views into account and make sure young people can receive a grade that reflects their hard work and enables them to progress.”