Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Rosindell and Peter Aldous

Monday 18th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Rosindell (Romford) (Con)]

What steps he is taking to support students (a) preparing for and (b) taking vocational exams during the covid-19 outbreak.

[Peter Aldous (Waveney) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to support students to sit their (a) technical and (b) vocational exams in 2021.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Gillian Keegan)]

Students due to undergo assessments in 2020-21 deserve the opportunity to progress successfully on to the next stage of their lives. That is why, alongside Ofqual, the Government are currently consulting on the alternative arrangements needed for vocational and technical examinations due to take place from April onwards. In the meantime, we are investing over £400 million to support access to remote education and, having already delivered 700,000 laptops and tablets to schools up and down the country, we are now rolling out the programme to 16 to 19 year-olds in colleges. The majority of FE providers will be invited to order their devices by the end of January.