Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has discussed the planned move to a numeric grading system for GCSEs in England with her Northern Ireland counterpart.

The Secretary of State has not had any meetings with Northern Ireland’s Minister for Education to discuss the grading system for GCSEs in England. Her predecessor discussed reforms to GCSEs in England with John O’Dowd (Minister for Education, Northern Ireland) and Leighton Andrews (Minister for Education and Skills, Wales) in May 2013.

Department for Education officials have regular meetings with officials from the devolved administrations in Northern Ireland and Wales, as well as the regulators Ofqual and Qualifications Wales, to discuss the qualification reforms taking place in England, Northern Ireland and Wales.