ASCL welcomes the fact that the Department and Ofqual are proactively consulting on 
contingency plans in case exams next summer are cancelled, but believe that this 
consultation comes too late, which was avoidable. The consultation closes in mid-October, 
by which point many schools and colleges will have already undertaken mock exams or will 
have limited time to respond to the guidance when it is released. 

While it was important to learn lessons from the 2021 TAGs process, these proposals 
could have been consulted on significantly earlier. This has created unnecessary and 
avoidable uncertainty and anxiety for young people preparing to take exams next summer.

ASCL broadly welcomes these proposals as proportionate measures to take, in case 
there is a need to cancel exams in summer 2022. The 2021 TAG system was largely 
successful in ensuring candidates achieved the grades they needed for progression. 
However, there were concerns around workload for centres, consistency and fairness 
across centres, and the external quality assurance that we would like to see improved.

Full response to consultation