A thread based on helpful blog from @ofqual confirming that they will try to reflect 'summer 2020' standards for the autumn exam series.
This series will be very different: smaller overall and untypical of the whole cohort. (1/7) @AoC_info https://ofqual.blog.gov.uk/2020/10/19/setting-standards-in-the-autumn-series/

Normally, statistical predictions guide awarding on the basis that overall performance is broadly stable between years. However, in this exceptional series, entries are low overall and the students entering are likely to be unrepresentative of the summer cohort. (2/7)

Statistics won't be much help and exam boards will rely much more on examiner judgement of the quality of student work, as they always do in small entry subjects. (3/7)

Students sitting exams this autumn need to be treated as fairly as possible alongside students from the summer, so examiners will be guided by 'proxy' grade boundaries based on how far the 2019 grade boundaries would have to move to achieve summer 2020 grade profile. (4/7)

This autumn series is not a typical re-sit series as students did not take any exams in the summer. The autumn results profile will be atypical and shouldn't be compared to summer 2020 or 2019, because the candidate profile will be so different. (5/7)

We've no idea what proportion of students will improve on their summer grade and worth bearing in mind that re-sitting students often don't improve their grades. If they do, they can request a certificate which shows their best results. (6/7)

We're all keen to know how standards will be set for summer 2021 and @ofqual will be consulting widely and saying more on this by the end of the year. (7/7)
@AoC_info #Loveourcolleges