Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that home-educated students are taken account of when his Department is forming its policy on the sitting of GCSE, AS and A-level examinations due to take place in 2021.

Examinations are the best and fairest way of judging pupils’ performance, and it is the Department’s intention that next year’s GCSE, AS and A level exam series will go ahead.

The Department is working with Ofqual to engage with the sector, including those representing home-educated pupils, to develop contingencies if disruption as a result of COVID-19 affects pupils’ ability to sit examinations. Following a period of engagement, more details will be published later in the autumn.