Coronavirus: Could NI boys suffer in predicted GCSE and A-level grades from CCEA?

The Coronavirus means exams will be replaced by predicted grades for GCSE and A-levels this year.

Former teacher and UUP MLA Rosemary Barton, acknowledged the issue was very real. “As a former teacher I found that generally, but not in all cases boys put most of their effort into the end of the year exams, whereas girls tended to be more consistent with their work throughout the year, sometimes this resulted with boys getting better overall results than they may have expected earlier in the year.”

While there is a perception that continuous assessment will be more beneficial to girls  “especially this year when teachers may be asked to predict a grade” she said, she does believe that teachers will make professional decisions taking all factors into account.

In 2015 UK GCSE figures showed that 73.1% of girls were awarded at least a C grade, compared to 64.7% of boys. Cherry Ridgway, curriculum and assessment specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) said at the time: “There is some compelling research which shows that in general girls perform better on controlled assessment and course work, and boys perform better in their exams. So moving forward, that may have implications for the future.”

The Council for the Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment in Northern Ireland said they wanted a fair outcome. “We are doing everything possible to ensure that any solution is fair and that no student, regardless of gender, is advantaged or disadvantaged,” a spokeswoman said.

Education Minister Peter Weir also responded that he wanted fair results.

“My officials have been fully engaged with CCEA on the development of a robust and fair alternative to the summer exams series,” he said.