Assessments: Coronavirus

(asked on 26th January 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with teaching unions about using teacher assessed grades in place of exams this year.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 3rd February 2021

In light of the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, the Government considers that exams cannot be held in a way that is fair. The Department has therefore announced that GCSE, AS and A level exams will not go ahead this summer as planned. The Department and Ofqual 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.

The Department’s ministers and officials regularly engage with the teacher and headteacher unions, including through holding reference groups and individual meetings, around the topic of alternative arrangements to exams in 2021. Meetings have been held with multiple teacher unions, including, but not limited to, NAHT, NEU, ASCL and NASUWT, during the consultation period. We will ensure that the views of the teacher and headteacher unions, along with the views gathered from teachers as part of the consultation and through reference groups, are considered when finalising plans for alternative arrangements to exams in 2021.

The Department will continue to engage with a range of relevant stakeholders following the consultation period, as will Ofqual.

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