School closures leave poorest pupils at huge exams disadvantage, warns Grenfell head

Messages of condolence at the base of Grenfell tower two years after the fire in London
REUTERS
Anna Davis @_annadavis23 April 2020

Poorer children taking GCSEs and A-levels next year face an “impossible situation” because they have missed so much face-to-face teaching, a leading London headmaster has warned.

David Benson, of Kensington Aldridge Academy, called on exam boards and Ofqual to adjust exams in the summer of 2021 to take into account the amount of school time students are losing this year because of the coronavirus.

Kensington Aldridge Academy is next to Grenfell Tower, and in the disruption that followed the 2017 fire, students lost almost three weeks of teaching. Mr Benson said it was difficult to make up the lost learning after the fire. He warned the impact of the longer coronavirus closures will be much greater.

School closures will hit poorer children harder than their wealthier peers because they will not be able to use private tutors to catch up. Some may struggle with distance learning in chaotic homes or without equipment such as desks or computers.

He said: “After Grenfell we missed a few weeks of curriculum. That was very difficult in terms of catching up. We are now looking at months of closure. I am not sure we can fully recover it.

“The exam boards and Ofqual need to be thinking about setting the exams in summer 2021 and what guidance they can give to teachers that might reflect this.”

The problem is most acute for poorer students in years 10 and 12 who will be taking GCSEs and A-levels next summer, he said, adding: “This will impact on the more disadvantaged students. There is a risk they won’t keep pace with their wealthier peers.

Schools will do some work to mitigate that by reaching out to families to maximise distance learning, possibly doing booster classes or work during the summer. But a child who is doing GCSEs next year is going to find themselves in a very difficult position. With the best will in the world, distance learning is nowhere near as good as being in the classroom. It’s going to be difficult to cover the full GCSE specification.”

Options that could be considered include cutting out parts of the curriculum, delaying the summer 2021 exams, adjusting grade boundaries or extending the school day and working during holidays to catch up, he said.

A spokesman for Ofqual said its immediate priority is this year’s exams, but added: “We are beginning to consider how to make sure students taking their qualifications in 2021 are treated fairly.”

Mr Benson’s comments came as it emerged that exam boards are unlikely to put on a full range of subjects for students wanting to take GCSEs and A-levels in the autumn.

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