Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of cancelling examinations for (a) Key Stage Two, (b) GCSE and (c) A-Level students and awarding pupils centre-assessed grades in 2020.

In light of the growth in COVID-19 rates we are seeing as a result of the newly identified strain of the virus, the Government needs to limit attendance at schools and colleges to reduce the number of contacts that we have with people in other households. This is now essential to protect the NHS. This means that we do not think it is possible or fair for examinations in the summer to go ahead as planned.

The department and Ofqual have launched a two-week consultation on how to fairly award all pupils a grade that supports them to progress to the next stage of their lives, including consulting specifically on four different approaches for private candidates to receive a grade.

The consultation can be accessed from the Ofqual website and will be open until 29 January.

The restricted attendance in primary schools has also meant primary assessments cannot continue as intended. The statutory key stage 1 and key stage 2 tests and teacher assessments planned for summer 2021, including the key stage 2 tests in reading and mathematics, will be cancelled. We remain determined to ensure that every young person, no matter their age or background, is provided with the education and opportunities they deserve despite the challenges faced by schools. We know that schools will continue to use assessment during the summer term to inform teaching, to enable them to give information to parents on their child’s attainment in their statutory annual report and to support transition to secondary school. We strongly encourage schools to use past test papers in their assessment of pupils.

Primary assessments have a crucial role in supporting pupils to grasp the basics of reading, writing and mathematics and to prepare them for secondary school. As such, these arrangements will apply for summer 2021 only, and the Department is planning for a full programme of primary assessments to take place in the 2021/22 academic year. This will include the introduction of the statutory Reception Baseline Assessment and Multiplication Tables Check as previously announced. We will confirm full details for 2021/22 primary assessments in due course.