A LEADING York head teacher has said schools should be involved in the grading process for pupils this summer.

John Tomsett, head teacher of Huntington School, York, said exam boards should give grade quotas to schools so they can create their own assessments - to ensure that pupils are questioned on what they have been taught.

He said he was “bitterly disappointed” when the Government announced A-levels and GCSE exams would be cancelled again this year - but that school assessments would be a good alternative.

Mr Tomsett said: “These assessments would be marked and moderated by schools. Pupils would be put in rank order in different subjects based on their performance.

“Schools would match the rank order against the grade quotas, look for anomalies, and send the final grades to exam boards in July.”

He said schools would work with Ofqual to publish grade quotas for each school by March, so students can prepare for examinations between January and April.

Once the exam boards have agreed to the criteria, students would sit the examinations in May, before being moderated in June.

Mr Tomsett added: “Individual departments within schools can rank order the students according to the students’ examination performance.

"Schools then match the rank order against the grade quotas, before sending the results to exam boards to be verified - with results published in August."

Head of Bootham School Chris Jeffery said: “John Tomsett’s proposal is a really good starting point.

"There is a sense in having a template of grades based on last year's results, and it is sensible to take the time to explore where that template causes genuine problems for a cohort of individuals in a particular subject.

"‘I certainly think that it is important that the Government and Ofqual get on with this urgently, but in the end, I would rather they took time to consult in pursuit of as good a solution as possible rather than merely a quick one."

A spokesman for the Department of Education said the approach on exams will be developed in consultation with the exam boards.

A consultation will be launched this week and conclude swiftly to give certainty to schools.