Home
Podcast: Ofqual, 2021 exams and how schools are coping

Podcast: Ofqual, 2021 exams and how schools are coping

Join the Tes news team as we discuss revelations from Ofqual and what GCSE grading might look like next year

23rd October 2020, 9:01pm

The Tes News Podcast: Ofqual, Gcses 2021 & Coronavirus

This week brought the publication of Ofqual board meeting minutes containing new insights into how the exams fiasco unfolded

Join us as we discuss how the regulator knew that this summer’s GCSE and A-level results would be unreliable and how it was bounced by the Department for Education into a plan to use mock exams as part of the grading process, before this was abandoned.

The news team also talk about how senior figures within the exams sector have told Tes that next year’s exam grades may need to be even more generous than those of 2020 following Covid disruption.

And we highlight concerns that coronavirus cases may have gone unreported after a DfE advice line told schools they “needn’t bother” calling it about second or subsequent cases.

Want to keep reading for free?

Register with Tes and you can read five free articles every month, plus you'll have access to our range of award-winning newsletters.

Register

Register with Tes and you can read five free articles every month, plus you'll have access to our range of award-winning newsletters.

More information

Keep reading for just £4.90 per month

/per month for 12 months

You've reached your limit of free articles this month. Subscribe for £4.90 per month for three months and get:

Unlimited access to all Tes magazine content
Exclusive subscriber-only stories
Award-winning email newsletters

You've reached your limit of free articles this month. Subscribe for £4.90 per month for three months and get:

Unlimited access to all Tes magazine content
Exclusive subscriber-only stories
Award-winning email newsletters

More information

Recent

Most read

Most shared

Eton-backed free schools among projects spared in DfE review

News

12 December 2025

SEND spending favours mainstream ‘at expense of special schools’

News

12 December 2025

Safeguarding review on ‘zero tolerance’ sparks national row

News

12 December 2025

Ofsted warns against ‘inflexible’ school rules for pupils with SEND

News

11 December 2025

‘Rigid’ behaviour policies under fire in safeguarding review

News

9 December 2025

Pupil tech and memory: what schools should do next

Teaching & Learning

10 December 2025

Why we need to rethink secondary reading assessment

Teaching & Learning

4 December 2025

5 questions for school leaders on the Budget’s implications for SEND

Analysis

28 November 2025

Why we teach without screens in Reception

Teaching & Learning

3 December 2025