Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support his Department is providing to (a) students who are home schooled to access exam centres for exams taking place in summer 2020 and (b) teachers at those exam centres facilitating those exams.

Following the cancellation of this year’s exams, the exam boards will be providing students with calculated grades, wherever possible. No exams will take place in summer 2020.

There will be an opportunity for students to sit exams in the autumn term, if they feel their calculated grade does not reflect their ability. There will also be a small group of students for whom there is not enough evidence for a calculated grade to be derived in the summer, including some home educated students. It is particularly important that these students are able to achieve grades through the additional exam series.

We have published guidance that sets out our expectation that the exam centre that submitted entries for students for exams in summer 2020 should enter them in the autumn if they wish to take exams, or take responsibility for ensuring that they have somewhere appropriate to sit their exams in exceptional cases where attending the original centre is not the best option for the student. This arrangement extends to all students who wish to take exams in the additional autumn series, including those who are home educated.