Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to allow for mitigating circumstances for pupils whose education has been disrupted due to the presence of RAAC.

Ofqual is the independent regulator of examinations and qualifications in England, and its statutory objectives are set out in Section 128 of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009. These include securing that ’regulated qualifications give a reliable indication of knowledge, skills and understanding’, and that ’regulated qualifications indicate a consistent level of attainment (including over time) between comparable regulated qualifications’.

It is important to ensure that all students taking comparable exams and assessments are assessed to the same standard in order to maintain qualification standards and public confidence in qualifications. If different standards are applied for different groups of students, then the qualification will cease to provide a reliable indication of the knowledge, skills and understanding that it is intended to measure.