Katie Jayne Parent Blog Issue Number 5 – 14th June 2021.

Glad to have you back with us. This week we look at how Covid-19 has affected your child’s education with an expected budget cut and the outlook for exams in 2021/2022.

i – Education has just released an article stating that the Government has introduced a stealth cut totalling a loss of £118 million from school budgets in England. Read more later on…

Also, we look at the news that those in the exam industry say they are worried about a risk that high grade inflation could damage the credibility of results, while they are expecting to see big disparities between state and private schools. This has led experts to predict a second year of results “disruption” this summer.

Finally what does Simon Lebus, the interim chief regulator of Ofqual, have planned for exams in 2022?

Thank you for joining us.

Katie and the team.

Deluge of appeals for Summer 2021 Exams

The Government has given teenagers a free right of appeal if they are not happy with the grades they receive in August due to the teacher assessment system that is in place for 2021.

However, this has led to concerns there could be a deluge of appeals, with the exam boards struggling to resolve them all before students are due to start at university or college in September.

So if you are planning to appeal, keep track of your appeal and supply as much information as possible to help the board administrate efficiently. We would suggest also taking advice from your school.

Exams 2022

Worth a read if your child is in Year 10 this year or a first year A-level student.

The interim Chief Regulator of Ofqual said it was ‘not yet decided’ whether ‘full fat exams’ would be sat in 2022.

The feeling is that the Year 10 cohort would have experienced a lot of disruption and those A-level students will not have had the previous experience of sitting a public exam before.

The Government and Ofqual are looking at different options, but much depends on the view point of the Department of Education over the coming months.

A similar approach could be taken for 2022 as took place this year with the possibility of moving to teacher assessment for another year.

Those within the education arena feel that the success of this year’s exam system will play a big part in deciding how things unfold next year.

Getting your child used to a slightly different way of working will play a large part in helping them to succeed within this different exam environment. For extra help please read our Parent Blog issue number 3 which discusses in detail how to help your child manage – follow this link to read more

Stealth Budgets

i – Education has just released an article stating that the Government has introduced a stealth cut totalling a loss of £118 million from school budgets in England this year due to a Government change in how funding for disadvantaged children is calculated. A survey of councils who looked at and reported on official figures set by the Local Government Association suggests there will be a loss of around £93m for primary schools and £25m for secondary schools.

Extra ‘pupil premium’ funding for every disadvantaged pupil is given to State schools, however, for 2021-22 funding will be based on the 2020 census for October.