Call for Northern experts to be part of new group set up to monitor pandemic impact on education

The Northern Powerhouse Partnership's (NPP) call to action comes as ministers have announced today (3 December) extra measures to "boost fairness and support students" will be used for next summer's GCSE and A-level exams in England.

Measures include more generous grading, advance notice of exam topics and additional papers are promised by the Department for Education to make up for the disruption faced by students during the pandemic.

While those who cannot sit exams due to self-isolation rules will still get a grade.

However Sarah Mulholland, Head of Policy at the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said the measures did not go far enough to support pupils in the North who have been worst hit by coronavirus.

She said the Government's priority should be focused on helping pupils catch up on lost learning, as there are concerns that pupil in the North of England have missed more school than their peers in other parts of the country and have faced the most disruption.

She pointed out in one case in the North of England a group of year 11s had just two weeks of face to face learning in the first half term of the year.

"There are stark regional disparities in COVID's impact on pupils between parts of the North and the rest of England."

The Department of Education has confirmed a new "expert group", which will monitor variation in the impact of the pandemic on students across the country, will be set up.

Ms Mulholland has stressed Northern experts must be included to give advice to government to aid the most disadvantaged children and those in high transmission areas.

She said: "Provided it includes Northern experts, the creation of a group to give advice will be critical in tackling specific issues relating to disadvantaged children and those in high transmission areas - who have the most work to do to get back on track.

"Our top priority must remain helping pupils catch up on lost learning, with decisions around assessment only able to be resolved when this is effectively addressed. If there is a chance teacher assessed grades may be used after all, a rigorous process for awarding these must be laid out in advance - not as an afterthought."

Previously reflecting on exams in the summer for northern students Paul McIntosh, the acting headteacher of King James’s School, a secondary school in Knaresborough, told The Yorkshire Post, that they faced an "unfair playing field," compared with other students across the country - particularly in comparison with pupils in the South and South West.

He said: "There is an unfair playing field across the country - I really feel for students who are in inner city Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool - who have missed school not during lockdown but have missed school in September.

“You compare them with some student in the South or South West who has been at school for the whole 12 weeks - surely that is not fair - you have got two sets of students potential in the Summer sitting down and doing the same exam."

He added: "The last thing you would want is for your chances of success in education to be dictated to by where you live - it should be fair and level for everyone."

The Department of Education has said it has had "extensive engagement" with exams watchdog Ofqual, exam boards and senior leaders across the education sector.

In extreme cases, where a student misses all their papers, a teacher-assessed grade will be given.

Those young people taking vocational and technical qualifications will also see adaptations to their exams to ensure fairness.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said exams were the best way of measuring performance, and that it was "so important" they took place next summer.

He added: "But this isn't business as usual. I know students are facing unprecedented disruption to their learning.

"That's why exams will be different next year, taking exceptional steps to ensure they are as fair as possible."

Extra measures 'to ensure fair exams next summer'

The measures mean:

- More generous grading than usual, in line with results from summer 2020, so that this year's cohort is not disadvantaged

- Students getting advance notice - at the end of January - of some topic areas covered in exams to focus revision

- Exam aids - such as formula sheets - provided in some exams to cut down on the memorising required

- Additional "backup" exams - to be held in July - to give students a second chance to sit a paper if they have to miss main exams or assessments due to illness or self-isolation

- And a new expert group, which will monitor variation in the impact of the pandemic on students across the country.

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