Coronavirus: GCSEs, A Levels and equivalents in 2022

Summer GCSE, AS and A Level exams are taking place in 2022

In 2020 and 2021, the main summer series of exams for GCSEs, AS and A Levels (and their equivalents in Scotland) were cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, students received grades based on teacher or lecturer assessment. Summer 2022 sees the return of a full exam series in all four UK nations.

2022 grades will be more generous than pre-pandemic ones, but ‘grade inflation’ is being rolled back

In 2020 and 2021 grades awarded via teacher and lecturer assessment were significantly higher, overall, than they had been in 2019.

For England, regulator Ofqual has announced that grading in 2022 will again be more generous than it was pre-pandemic, but that grades are expected to fall at a mid-point between those in 2019 and 2021. In future, the plan is for grades to revert to a more normal distribution. As such, 2022 has been described as a ‘transition year’. 

There are other changes to exams

In England, there are more changes to exams in 2022, including advance information on exam topics, greater choice of topics in some subjects, and formula and equation sheets for some subjects with a maths component.

Similar changes to grade boundaries and the form and content of exams will apply across the UK.

How fair will exams in 2022 be, given lost face-to-face learning?

GCSE, A Level, Higher/ Advanced Higher grades (in Scotland), and equivalent qualifications, are high stakes in that they serve as a passport to further and higher education, training and employment.

Students currently in exam years 11 (GCSE) and 13 (A level) have missed significant periods of face-to-face learning, and some remain conerned that the adaptions and allowances don’t go far enough to compensate.