So this is now up. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/how-gcses-as-a-levels-will-be-awarded-in-summer-2020

Much as expected. Teacher assessments (with an additional rank order judgement), statistically moderated by exam boards and Ofqual.

Overall this is probably as fair as it is going to get but I would mention a couple of issues.

1) Rank order judgement. None of the assessments...

...we do as teachers provides us with the data we could reliably use to create these judgements. They are new. I hope Ofqual won’t use these to change the grades of individual schools.

2) Last year my own school went from a minus P8 to +0.7, a nearly 1 grade per student per...

...subject change. This does happen. Ofqual have to respect a schools judgement that this can happen, otherwise the promise that no student will be disadvantaged by the process will not have been kept.

This process is also now about “what happens next”. Users of these grades...

...for example colleges and sixth forms, need to recognise the special circumstances and be flexible with their entry requirements.

In return I think there will also have to be some form of flexibility over the introduction of a type of probationary period, with continuation...

...on a course contingent on meeting some minimum standard.

I suspect we’ll be hearing the phrase “benefit of the doubt” a lot over the coming weeks.