Just 195 of 5.7 million GCSE and A-level teacher assessed grades (TAGS) were changed after being reviewed by exam boards last school year, according to this Ofqual report. The report shows how TAGs were quality assured after exams were cancelled in 2020-21.
In January 2021, the government decided that it would not be fair for GCSE, AS and A level exams to take place in summer 2021 because of the disruption to students’ education caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Instead, students received grades based on assessments by their teachers: Teacher Assessed Grades or TAGs.
Staff at school, college and other exam centres submitted 5.7 million TAGs for students taking GCSE, AS and A level qualifications in England this summer. These constituted:
4.9 million GCSE TAGs
57,360 AS TAGs
754,520 A level TAGsAs exams were cancelled this year, teachers determined grades using a range of evidence, for example mock exams, class tests and any non-exam assessment already completed.
To assure the quality of their approach, centres had to:
- ensure that at least 2 people were involved in determining each TAG
- have the head of school or college sign off the grades to confirm they were a true representation of student performance and that the appropriate process had been followed
- detail their approach to determining and quality assuring grades in a centre policy
- submit to the exam boards a sample of the evidence on which their judgments were based