Covid: 'I don't want exams to go ahead next year'

Some pupils say the pressure of exams is a lot to deal with during a pandemic

The Welsh Government is asking pupils, parents and teachers how A-level and GCSE qualifications should be assessed next year.

The results of the consultation will help inform Education Minister Kirsty Williams's decision, which is due by the end of the half term holiday.

In England, A-level and GCSE exams will go ahead - but will be delayed by three weeks and with reduced content.

BBC Wales asked these three students what they would like to see happen with end-of-year exams in 2021.

Unequal learning opportunities

Cai organised a protest in Cardiff Bay in August after the furore over A-level grades

Cai, from Cardiff, organised a protest outside the Senedd - Welsh Parliament in August after 42% of A-level grades predicted by teachers were lowered by exams watchdog Qualifications Wales.

The 17-year-old, who is studying towards A-levels in government and politics, chemistry and physics, said exams should not go ahead because students had not had equal learning opportunities.

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"Some have been getting more online learning than others, some don't have the right environment at home as other students do," he argued.

"Having a big end-of-year assessment won't be the right way - that tends to treat students as if they have had the same experience of education."

Cai called for more support for teachers to allow centre-assessed grades from regular assessments throughout the year to be used to give final grades.

'Exams would be stressful'

Letiesha feels pupils' mental health has been affected during the pandemic

"I would personally say, I don't want exams to happen," said Letiesha, who is 17 and studying psychology, geography and biology A-levels in Cardiff.

Letiesha, who is applying to go to university, thinks the scale of disruption caused by the pandemic makes it unfair to expect students to take part in traditional exams at the end of the year.

"This pandemic has had a detrimental impact - it's caused disruption to learning, it's impacted mental health among everybody, but also young people," she said.

"Exams are stressful as they are, so putting the pressure of exams, when they may not have had as much learning, or as much availability of devices to do online learning, is quite difficult and I don't think it would be very fair."

Instead, she said she would like to see grades given from more regular tests at the end of modules.

But whatever happens, she called for an announcement at the earliest opportunity to allow students and teachers to prepare.

'We missed a lot of learning'

GCSE pupil Solomon says pupils should be able to choose how they are assessed

Solomon is in the last year of his GCSEs at a school in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire.

The 15-year-old believes it would be unfair to assess students' abilities in an exam, and coursework should be used to assess grades instead.

"Having all that time off last year, we missed a lot of learning," he explained.

"We are at quite a disadvantage, so coursework is the best for us to be judged on how we are improving rather than one exam at the end of the year."

But he acknowledged some people might be better at exams than coursework, and called for a solution that does not treat either pupil unfairly.

"I think they should listen to what students think," Solomon added.