CCEA Publish Assessment Arrangements for all 2021 and 2022 CCEA Qualifications

Published: 27/05/2021, 2:00pm
CCEA Publish Assessment Arrangements for all 2021 and 2022 CCEA Qualifications

Today, Thursday 27 May 2021, the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) has published the Assessment Arrangements for all CCEA Qualifications for 2021 and 2022.

The publication follows an announcement by the Education Minister, Peter Weir MLA, on 17 May 2021, on the planned return of public examinations in 2021-2022, with significant reductions in the assessment requirements across a range of CCEA qualifications.

CCEA’s priority is to provide clarity on assessment reductions for schools and colleges as quickly as possible. The Assessment Arrangements for CCEA Qualification 2021/22 document sets out the changes to CCEA qualifications for 2021 and 2022, in adhering to the Education Minister’s decisions.

Changes may be summarised as follows:

  • One assessment will be omitted from the vast majority of GCSE, AS and A Level qualifications in 2022.
  • Students’ overall grade will be determined by their performance in the unit or units they sit.
  • A student who wishes to take all examinations can do so.  There is no obligation to do so. Any student who sits all units will be awarded the higher grade from either all units or the mandatory units only. 
  • In Occupational Studies, students can omit one unit of their choice from final assessment. Any student who sits all units will be awarded the higher grade from either all units or the mandatory units only.
  • In Entry Level and Vocational Qualifications, students can omit assessments up to a maximum of 50% of the qualification.

In all cases, schools and colleges are encouraged to cover the full specification.

In early June, CCEA will publish the specification addendum for each qualification; these will be made available on the subject-specific areas of the CCEA website.

Engagement between CCEA, the Department of Education and other key stakeholders, will continue throughout the implementation of the Education Minister’s instructions. This includes further contingency planning for Summer 2022, remaining vigilant of the public health situation.

In the meantime, our dedicated Summer 2021 and Summer 2022 web areas will continue to be updated with further information and support materials.

Teachers can continue to subscribe for subject specific information at ccea.org.uk/sign-up, with updates also posted on our social media channels.

Note to Editors

Media enquiries to CCEA MarComms. You can contact Ruth Hobson or Joanne Schofield.