Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has made for necessary adjustments in the event that A level exams in 2022 are cancelled nationally or locally.

Examinations and other formal assessments remain the fairest way of assessing students. It is the Government’s intention that GCSE, AS and A level examinations will go ahead in summer 2022. The Department recognises that students who will be taking A levels next year have had significant disruption to their education this year. We are therefore considering with Ofqual, the exam boards, and wider stakeholders what needs to be done to ensure that students are able to sit examinations and take other assessments safely and receive grades that are fair, even if further disruption does occur. The Department understands the need for the education sector to have certainty in order to plan for next year, and we will announce further details as soon as possible.

Although the Department remains committed to exams going ahead in 2022, we will continue to work with Ofqual on a range of contingencies in the event of further disruption to education.