A headteacher of a school in Oxfordshire has criticised the change in A-Level exams from next year, stating that schools will need to be able to offer extra support to both pupils and teachers as they come to grips with the changes that will be taking place. 

The Department for Education has confirmed that new A-Levels and AS-Levels will be sat by school children in England and Wales starting from September of this year. Results for the AS-Level changes will first be reported in 2016, while A-Level results will not come until 2017. 

In the biggest shake up to the way exams are run at this level, the Department for Education said that AS-Levels will no longer count towards the final A-Level result as they currently do, but that they will still be taught in a number of subjects even after the changes come into play. 

Headington School headmistress Caroline Jordan said it was crucial to support sixth formers and pupils, as well as teachers, as they start to get to grips with the new arrangements for A-Levels, in particular how they are graded.

“Everything we have seen indicates the new A-Levels, with no coursework and all content examined at the end, will be more demanding," she said. 

And Ms Jordan is not the only teacher who has criticised the current system. Sue Croft, principal of Oxford Spires Academy, said: “With GCSEs we used to be able to do controlled assessment and modular exams, but now the system is entirely linear, with exams at the end of the course.”

And Wallingford School headteacher Wyll Willis said that the main issue faced by schools and teachers at the moment is that the system has been brought in far too quickly, not allowing anyone the chance to ask questions or to address any problems that might arise moving forward.