Details of how appeals for this summer’s exam grades in Wales will work have been delayed following concerns from schools and colleges.
The appeals process policy was due to be published on Thursday but the delay came as parents and students expressed fresh concern over how assessments replacing cancelled exams are working in practice.
One headteacher described the workload put on schools as "unmanageable in some instances" and a student reported seeing teachers in tears in the classroom.
One teaching union said it has "serious concerns" about how the appeals process will work.
Exam regulator Qualifications Wales and exam board WJEC said there had to be "flexibility" in how assessments are done by teachers after so much disruption to education this year.
But teaching union UCAC said : "We are seriously concerned about the workability of the arrangements for this summer from the point of view of schools and colleges.
"It is a matter of getting the balance right between reliability and consistency of results on the one hand, and proportionality in terms of the demands on schools and colleges on the other.
"We urgently need the relevant authorities to look at how they can make the process manageable for schools, particularly in relation to appeals, taking into account the multiple levels of extraordinary demands on them at the moment.
"Everybody wants and needs this system to work, and we are ready to discuss workable options.”
Some parents and students predict “a row” in June when teacher assessed grades are given to students ahead of official results days in August to allow time for any appeals.
Further details of how this appeals process will work for schools and colleges were due to be published by Qualifications Wales on Thursday, but the regulator said that has now been put back to May to allow further discussion.
Students can appeal after being told grades their teachers have given them in June.
The WJEC insisted "robust internal and external quality assurance processes" will ensure the process for exams is fair.
How the plan for this year's exams changed
When exams were cancelled for a second year thanks to Covid a working group, the Design and Delivery Advisory Group, was set up by Welsh Government to agree alternatives.
Its plan to run internal and external assessments to replace exams also had to be scrapped when schools shut again in the third lockdown.
Now Centre Determined Grades will be awarded by teachers based on some internal sat assessment with past papers, course work and past work and results also in the mix.
Exam board the WJEC and regulator Qualifications Wales are responsible for implementing plans arrived at by the working group with schools running and marking assessments and awarding GCSE and A level grades.
Students and parents are worried
But some parents and students said although they trusted their teachers, too much variation has been allowed in how students are assessed for grades. Qualifications Wales confirmed it has asked an undisclosed number of schools to re-write their assessment policies.
Cai Parry, 17, is an A level student at Cardiff and Vale College and is being assessed for A level physics, chemistry and politics. He is worried he won’t get the grades he needs to go to his first choice university in September.
“I trust my teachers but it’s been a nightmare and I don’t feel we’ve been treated fairly again," he said.
"Teachers have interpreted it in all different ways.
“I am doing three subjects and the models of assessment each teacher is using are quite varied."
“For politics we are given a past paper question to do as course work as part of our assessment. Physics is more or less exam based but for some of those we are allowed to look at notes, others not. Having a solely exam based situation like in chemistry I don’t feel is a level playing field.”
The mother of an 18 year-old who is doing A level chemistry, biology and history agreed.
“I think it will kick off after they are told their grades in June. I think there will be a big row, “ she said.
“I do trust the teachers but not the detail of the system arrived at. Too much variation is possible in how people are assessed.
“Teachers in one school can run closed book assessments or allow students to look at their book. It is unfair. The teachers are under pressure to make it work. My daughter said she has seen some in tears in the college."
Another parent said the same assessment questions run over several days to allow social distancing meant some students telling others what the questions were..
One mother of a year 11 student working towards GCSEs said: "The negative effect of the relentless pressure the assessments are putting our children under has been overlooked by WJEC and Welsh Government.
"As a parent I am concerned as I don’t want the lack of rigour at other schools to impact on how my son's effort and grades are perceived by institutions."
Headteachers said they are working hard to make the system work, but have concerns
Neil Foley, head of Prestatyn High, said: “We all want to do our best and give/gain the fairest grades possible. Lots of work, lots of marking, lots of moderation and administration to make sure all grades have the evidence required. This is quite a bureaucratic system.”
He said he is confident his school will allocate the grades pupils deserve but repeated fears that schools can be challenged under the system if any subject outcome is over by 3-7% from historic performance. This created similar anomalies to last year’s standardisation row.
He is also worried that pupils can get too much information on past papers and mark schemes from the WJEC website.
“It is better than last year as we don’t have the spectre of an algorithm on the horizon, but I think the system we ended with last year (CAGs) where teachers used professional judgement was better than these internal tests we have to set.
“My staff (and I am sure all schools are the same) have dedicated people who just want the best for their pupils. If a pupil deserves and has the evidence of an A* then they should be awarded it. If they have no evidence and have not put in the work then they should get a U or a G.”
David Blackwell, headteacher at St Richard Gwyn Catholic High in Barry said he is confident the system at his school is fair and pupils will get the grades they deserve but pressure on staff is “enormous”.
“Staff are working above and beyond. The expectations on them due to the size of the task is simply enormous. They are teaching the full timetable of classes in all year groups whilst setting and marking work that is usually done by external examiners.
“I do have some concerns as to why we are needing to share results with pupils in June instead of following the normal process in August. I am still unclear as to how this is of benefit to the workload of schools.
“I do think that the workload that has been put back onto schools is unmanageable in some instances.”
What the WJEC and Qualifications Wales had to say
A WJEC spokesperson said: “Schools and colleges have a high degree of flexibility to select appropriate evidence to determine their learners’ grades this summer. Evidence can be based on a broad range of sources including past papers, centre devised tasks and coursework.
“Grades will be determined by schools and colleges to reflect a holistic, fair, reasonable and carefully considered judgement of each learner’s performance across a range of evidence, on the curriculum content that they have been taught.
“We would like to reassure learners that there are also robust internal and external quality assurance processes in place to ensure that this year’s approach is fair and balanced.”
A Qualifications Wales spokesperson said: !As schools and colleges are determining grades this summer, there was a need for a lot of flexibility in the approach.
"The number of assessments required as part of the evidence used to make the judgement this summer has not been prescribed, so it is natural that approaches vary slightly.
"Whilst there is flexibility, to promote consistency, schools and colleges have sent their centre assessment policies to WJEC to be checked as part of the quality assurance process."
