Pupils with exam anxiety could sit papers at different times

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Tom Middlehurst, the Association of School and College Leaders’ curriculum lead, said in a discussion of the 2022 GCSE and A level exams, that “one of the things we’re picking up…is that there are a large number of more students who have evidenced anxiety and are coming with doctor’s notes and GP notes saying ‘we have anxiety about coming to the exams’ or ‘we need our own room and therefore an invigilator'”. “For schools and colleges that is just not practical,” he said at the school leaders’ annual conference, adding, “That’s not something they’re able to do.” Different times could mean, for example, a student starting their paper a few minutes later than others, once other students in the exam hall had settled down Ofqual spokesperson Jo Saxton, Ofqual’s chief regulator, said that exam boards must make sure they had thought through the implications for special consideration for pupils in 2022. “I’ve been really clear with exam boards that meeting the needs of students is my first priority,” she said. An Ofqual spokesperson clarified: “Different times could mean, for example, a student starting their paper a few minutes later than others, once other students in the exam hall had settled down.