School leaders warn the first GCSE and A-levels in three years will be a 'minefield' to navigate

• Watch a report by ITV News Anglia's Hannah Pettifer

The 2022 exam season has been described as a "minefield" that both teachers and students will have to navigate to the best of their ability.

When GCSEs and A-levels start at the end of May, students will be the first to sit exams in three years.

For the past two years, grades have been determined by teacher assessments because of the disruption to learning caused by Covid.

Revision classes are well under way at Witchford Village College in Cambridgeshire. Details of the areas of examination students will face across all subjects have already been released, and teachers are now concentrating their lessons on these areas to give their students the best chance of success on exam day.

But, understandably, students are nervous.

Ruben Kottman is taking his GCSEs this year. "With everything that's happened, Covid, lockdown, you've lost some of that knowledge that you learnt before," he said. "It's just making sure you revise, but there's that extra stress added on top."

Oliver Dowden, 16, agrees. "I am feeling a little bit stressed, I think that's normal but it is a little bit daunting going in," he said.

"Before I might have asked friends for support who were from older years but they've not had the same experience so it is very new, but I think it is reassuring we're having revision lessons and we're being geared towards what we have on the exam."

Like most schools, Witchford Village College has had its fair share of Covid absence. Before Easter, 20% of its Year 7 cohort were off. But teaching staff are confident their students are well equipped for the exam season ahead.

"I think in any situation change can be unsettling and the more advance notice you can have the better," says head of school Richard Auffret.

"I think students though have had notice and schools have been prepared for all eventualities for this exam season. Our students and staff certainly have planned for this eventuality and we are confident students will be successful in their exams."

But teaching unions fear this may not be enough, such is the extent of disruption that students have faced over the past two years and continue to face through ongoing absence.

"Our concern is the amount of disruption that's happened," says Sarah Hannafin from NAHT, The School Leaders Union.

"We know from the attendance data that there have been high levels of student and staff absence, even last term absence was really high and that's going to have a big impact not only on teachers being able to finish teaching their specifications but also teacher-led revision and exam preparation."

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi has announced a series of adaptations to the exams to help compensate for the disruption caused by Covid.

They include prior notification of the areas of examination students should expect and a gap of at least 10 days between a student's first and last exams in any one subject.

With the exams being spaced further apart, it is hoped that, if a child catches Covid, they will be able to take at least one paper in every subject. Special consideration will then be given to the student, in line with normal procedure for illness during the examination period.

The grading of exams is also expected to be more generous. Grade boundaries will be set mid-way between 2019 pre-pandemic levels and those from teacher assessments in 2021.

But with Covid testing in schools now having been withdrawn, headteachers have raised concerns of the virus spreading in exam halls. Students are being told to stay at home only if, on the day of the exam, they have a high temperature.

Some headteachers have called for free Covid tests to be brought back so it is clear what families are expected to do should their child fall ill during the exam period.

A spokesperson for the Department for Education said: “It is our firm intention that exams will go ahead this year.

"It is of great importance to give students the opportunity to sit their exams and we have put measures in place to ensure they can do so fairly.

"We have worked with Ofqual to put in place a number of adaptations to support the safe and fair delivery of exams in this academic year and to recognise the disruption students have faced.

"We do not expect the plans for exams to change except in the very unlikely case of a public health emergency which would prevent students being able to physically sit exams."