Key A-Level and GCSE 2020 decision on grades by Ofqual

Schools and colleges will rank students within each grade for each subject after GCSE and A-level exams were cancelled amid the coronavirus pandemic.

England's exams regulator Ofqual has instructed teachers to provide grades for pupils which reflect "fair, objective and carefully considered" judgements of the results they believe each student would have been most likely to achieve if the exams had gone ahead.

Exam boards will be contacting schools and colleges after Easter to ask them to submit their judgements by a deadline that will be no earlier than May 29.

(Liverpool Echo)

Schools have been told not to share these grades with students and parents until final results are issued. It is hoped pupils will receive their grades before the pre-planned results days in August.

Schools across the UK closed their doors to the majority of students a fortnight ago. Pupils were told that teacher assessments would help grade their GCSE, AS levels and A-levels.

The changes will affect more than a million pupils currently studying for GCSEs and A-Levels in England this year, as well as those taking vocational and technical qualifications.

On Friday, Ofqual said teachers' judgements on grades should take into account a full range of evidence - including classwork, non-exam assessment, mock exams or previous results.

If grading judgements in some schools and colleges appear to be more severe or generous than others, exam boards will adjust the grades of students accordingly, the regulator has said.

Each students' final grade will be assigned using a model developed by Ofqual that will take into account prior attainment of the year group of students at each school and college and the results of the school or college in recent years compared to national outcomes.

Students will also have the opportunity to sit exams at the earliest opportunity in the new academic year.

Schools across England closed their doors to the majority of students on Friday 20 March in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Schools remain open for the children of key workers.