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<p>The Department recognises that head teachers and staff have worked hard over last
year to support their pupils. It would not have been possible for pupils to have received
their results without the commitment and expertise of head teachers, teachers and
support staff.</p><p>Awarding Organisations (AOs) are responsible for setting their
exam fees, including any refunds on fees this year<em>. </em>The AOs have been clear
that they do not intend to profit from reductions in costs this year. The Department
understands that AOs have made commercial decisions on fees and refunds, taking into
account the range of costs they incurred as part of their processes, which led to
the awarding of qualifications. We are providing approximately £25 million to schools,
colleges and exam boards to help with the delivery of 2021 Teacher Assessed Grades
and the autumn series. The Department confirmed that it would directly fund AOs to
support them with appeals costs and any autumn series losses they make, so that in
turn they could increase rebates to centres. AOs have announced their rebates levels
for the 2020/21 academic year as follows: AQA 26%, OCR 42%, Pearson 33% and WJEC 42%.
Further details of individual AOs’ fees and any refunds can be accessed on AOs' websites.</p><p>As
AOs are independent bodies, the Department does not hold data on the number of moderators
employed. The quality assurance process this year was not designed to moderate grades,
but support teachers to make their professional judgements so that pupils received
grades that are meaningful.</p>
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