Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with universities on ensuring that students applying for university in the 2021/22 academic year are not disadvantaged by the cancellation of exams.

The government is working closely with partners across the education sector, and with higher education (HE) providers, to minimise the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and the disruption it has caused to young people’s education, including for those who will be applying to university for the 2021/22 academic year.

Through discussions at my HE taskforce, and from regular conversations that I have had with representative groups and individual universities, I am encouraged that universities will be flexible when making offers to individual students applying to university in 2021/22, to ensure that these students are able to receive fair offers. It is more crucial than ever before that we tap into the brilliant talent that our country has to offer, and make sure that university places are available to all who are qualified by ability and attainment to pursue them and who wish to do so.

The Department for Education and Ofqual have recently launched a joint consultation inviting views on the alternative arrangements by which students will be awarded GCSEs, AS and A level grades in summer 2021, as well as the arrangements for vocational and technical qualifications. The consultation will take account of views from a range of parties including the HE sector to ensure that young people are supported to move to the next stage of their lives.

It is also vital that students applying to university in 2021 have extra time to carefully consider their applications and make the best choices for their future. As such, for students applying to enter university in 2021, the UCAS deadline for most courses has been pushed back to 29 January 2021.