Children taking exams should be marked up because of strikes by teachers, it was claimed

CHILDREN taking exams this summer should be marked up because of strikes by teachers, it was claimed yesterday.

Exams watchdog Ofqual is being urged to rethink its instruction to exam boards to return to “normal marking” for the first time since 2019.

The Northern Powerhouse Partnership said teens sitting A-levels and GCSEs were being treated “very unfairly”.

It comes after marks were increased in 2021 and 2022 to compensate for Covid disruption.

There were no exams in 2020.

Teachers will strike on April 27, May 2 and for three days in June or July.

Ofqual said: “We’re building in an allowance to grading that reflects the disruption students have experienced.”

He told the Sunday Times: “Not only did this year’s exam candidates lose lessons in the pandemic, many teenagers have not returned to school full time and behaviour in schools is much worse than it was.”