Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of catch-up teaching support provided to former Year 13 students who have opted to sit exams in October 2020 as a result of those exams previously not taking place due to covid-19 lockdown restrictions.

Understanding the impact of COVID-19 disruption on attainment and progress is a key research priority for the Government, and we have commissioned an independent research and assessment agency to consider catch up needs and monitor progress over the course of the year.

Additional funding of up to £96 million to support 16-19 year olds for the 2020/21 academic year is available through the National Tutoring Programme, enabling schools and colleges to provide small group tuition for disadvantaged students whose learning has been disrupted as a result of COVID-19.

A and AS level entry figures for the autumn series have been published and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/entries-for-as-and-a-level-autumn-2020-exam-series.