Examinations

Examination changes for summer series 2023

The Department for Education (DfE) and Ofqual have announced the examination arrangements for 2023 in England. 

GCSE, AS, and A level examinations in England will largely return to pre-pandemic arrangements next summer as young people continue to recover from the pandemic. In line with the plans set out last September, Ofqual has confirmed a return to pre-pandemic grading in 2023.

To protect students against the disruption of recent years, and in case students’ performance is slightly lower than before the pandemic, senior examiners will use the grades achieved by previous cohorts of students, along with prior attainment data, to inform their decisions about where to set grade boundaries.

This mirrors the approach used in the first years of reformed GCSEs and A levels in 2017, when early cohorts were protected against the impact of changes to the qualifications and means, for example, a typical A level student who would have achieved a grade A before the pandemic will be just as likely to get an A this summer.

The government is also confirming that students should continue to be provided with support in GCSE mathematics, physics and combined science with formulae and equation sheets, but not with advance information of examination content, as was the case last year.

The decisions reflect the reduced levels of disruption this cohort have experienced compared to the cohorts of the previous two years. Ofqual has launched a consultation on the plans for formulae and equation sheets today.

See the lefthand side menu for the Year 10 and Year 11 examinations timetables.

Contingency dates

The awarding bodies have collectively agreed a contingency day for several years now which is always scheduled at the end of the GCSE, GCE AS and A level exam timetables.

The contingency day is in the event of national or significant local disruption to exams in the United Kingdom, being part of the awarding bodies’ standard contingency planning for exams.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, further resilience was needed within the exam timetables. A single contingency day was not felt to be sufficient if a national event or incident had a significant effect on the exam timetable. For example, summer exams could be affected by extremely high temperatures.

For the June 2023 exams the awarding bodies have introduced two additional half-day contingency sessions. These are on Thursday 8th June 2023 and Thursday 15th June 2023. The standard contingency day remains at the end of the exam timetable being scheduled on Wednesday 28th June 2023. When making plans for the summer please be aware of these dates and all candidates are encouraged to remain available until Wednesday 28th June 2023 should examinations need to be rescheduled.

It has also been confirmed that results day will be on the 24th August 2023 for GCSEs.

General Examination Information

Examinations are a very important part of your time at Melbourn Village College. This section is designed to provide easy access to up-to-date information on examinations. A number of documents which provide important information on what to expect during examinations are available to download in the panel on the left of this page. Important documents covering the current JCQ rules and regulations can also be found below. These rules and regulations must be adhered to by all students taking examinations at MVC. The college provides an internal appeals procedure which is available on the left.

• Information for Candidates for Written Examinations
• Unauthorised Items regulations
• Warning to Candidates

A video produced last year offering guidance for candidates is still relevant to those taking examinations this summer and we recommend that students watch it below.”

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