Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she will have discussions with Ofqual on the potential merits of requiring exam boards to give special consideration to students who are absent from school during the academic year due to exceptional circumstances.

Special consideration is any adjustment given to a student who has temporarily experienced an illness, injury, or other event outside of their control, which significantly affects their ability to either take or demonstrate what they can do in an assessment.

Special consideration can only be given for things that happen immediately before or during an exam or assessment. To be eligible for special consideration, students must have been fully prepared for the assessment and have covered the whole course. Special consideration does not apply where students miss a course due to absence, if they enrolled part way through, or if their education was disrupted.

As the exams regulator, Ofqual is clear that qualifications must represent what a student knows, understands, and can do. This is important so that qualifications maintain their value and users of qualifications, including universities and employers, have trust in the grades awarded.