Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has contingency plans in place to protect students and apprentices in the event of disruption to qualification delivery by private awarding bodies.

Ofqual, the independent regulator of exams and assessments in England, requires awarding organisations to establish, maintain and comply with an up-to-date detailed written contingency plan to mitigate any incident that may cause a disruption to candidates.

In addition, Ofqual has published guidance on how the sector should manage disruption to exams and assessments, including clear steps that both exam centres and awarding organisations should take to ensure qualifications are delivered.