GCSE & A-Level

Our lessons now are offered in-person at our centre

It surprised me when, in the middle of May 2020, both Cambridge University and Bristol University moved all their lectures online until the summer of 2021.

From what we saw, those two institutions appear to have been proved right.  Although I was shocked at the time, about how quickly the decision was made on moving the whole of the next academic year online, when one thinks about it, it is certain that, irrespective of what the government says, confidence will never be fully restored and many people will not go back to living their lives the way they used to before coronavirus for at least one year.

I really feel for those young university students at the moment, as what they are experiencing makes many of them feel they are missing out on a crucial part of their lives. I consider the first year of university a time that will live in one's memory forever.  The truth is there is no easy solution for governments or institutions anywhere in the world on this important matter of managing people during a pandemic.

Although I am on the side of protecting the most vulnerable and allowing life for the vast majority to go on as normal as possible - it can only be done with sensible behaviour and safety precautions. The issue is that too many people feel a sense of entitlement and behave in a manner that I consider selfish and irresponsible. In must be said that this is a minority of people, but still too many and they make things difficult for authorities to manage and get the balance right for everyone.

A lot of people will maintain social distancing for at least another year - or perhaps two - irrespective of a cure or a vaccine being found. Even if both vaccine and cure are found very quickly, effectiveness of medicine takes a long time to be fully established, and, more importantly, for trust to be gained by people.

Online and offline lessons at Excel iiLearn 

At Excel, we have been providing both online and offline lesson since September 2021, and that has continued into 2022-23. We are of the view that in-person lessons are the most effective for young people. However, some parents and students value the option of providing online lessons for those who want it for one reason or another, and also to be able to switch all classes to online if public health situation demands it.

We were very fortunate that we managed to get online teaching going very quickly at the start of the lockdown. We are also very pleased about how effective the teaching we we provided via live, online video lessons during the lockdown. Having said that, there can never be any room for complacency, as we must keep finding ways to further improve the quality of education we deliver. We believe the fact that we insisted that every student switch their video camera on during the lesson helps to ensure participation in the lesson.

The variation in the quality of online education provided by many schools during the pandemic is something many parents find difficult to comprehend, as it was of a sub-standard quality. Although we have opened our centres, the expertise we developed during the online periods has proven to be very helpful.

Algorithm, Teacher assessment and examination - fairness?

The cancellation of GCSE and A-level exams this summer, and the fiasco created as a result of the algorithm-predicted grades created a great deal of anxiety in the minds of so many parents and students. The replacement, teacher-predicted grades, is a little better than the algorithm, but by no means as fair as an examination.

The fact that people, on the whole, are reasonable and understand the reason why examinations have been cancelled does not remove the perception of possible injustice and unfairness in teacher assessment.

There is an awful lot to celebrate in modern Britain, as the vast majority of teachers are fair and considerate and there are some checks and balances in place. However, it is still not good enough, as not only will mistakes be made, but people will be partial. The only thing that I consider fair is an exam of some sort. Even if 99% of teachers are fair and reasonable (not that I think the figure is anywhere near 99%), 1% making judgements about young people's lives and awarding unfair grades is still unacceptable.

One thing that we have learnt from the exams having been cancelled and teachers predicting grades is that it favours young people who consistently perform well throughout the year. Students who are the so-called mavericks are likely to lose out, as they will be predicted and awarded lower grades than they may perhaps have obtained, had they taken the actual exam.

What should happen now is that internal tests by schools should be taken more seriously by all parties. With tests being conducted under exam conditions and proper records being kept by teachers. This means that, in the event that teacher assessment is needed again, it will be based on solid and verifiable evidence. This needn't be excessively more time-consuming, provided it is managed well by schools.