Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will take steps to ensure that an equitable system is in place for schools and students in the event that a predicted grade exam results system is introduced for exams in (a) October and November 2020 and (b) later in the 2020-21 academic year.

There are no plans to introduce a predicted grade results system in England for exams in the 2020-21 academic year. Exams and assessments are the best and fairest way of judging students’ performance, and we are clear in our intention that both the autumn and summer exam series should go ahead.

Most students taking exams in the autumn series received a centre assessment grade, based on an assessment of the likely grades that students would have obtained had exams gone ahead, or a calculated grade if that was higher. There is, therefore, no basis on which to award a different grade other than the student sitting the exam. Some students, for example some home-educated students, were not in a position to provide sufficient evidence for them to be able to receive a grade in the summer, and it remains the case that there would be insufficient evidence to award grades to those students unless they sit exams.

We continue to discuss arrangements for exams in summer 2021 with Ofqual, the exam boards, higher and further education representatives and other sector bodies to ensure that arrangements are fair and the 2021 cohort of students receive the qualifications they deserve.

The arrangements for awarding qualifications to students in Northern Ireland are a matter for the Northern Ireland government and the Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment Regulation.