Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect of school students being taught particular subjects wholly by supply teachers ahead of their summer examinations; and what measures they will introduce to take any negative effect into account.

Supply teachers perform a valuable role and make an important contribution to the smooth running of schools by filling posts on a temporary basis and covering teacher absences. A key principle behind the government’s education reforms is to give headteachers the freedom to use their professional judgement to decide the structure of their school's workforce. In deploying staff, school leaders should be satisfied that the person has the appropriate skills, expertise and experience to carry out the work.

The department recognises that pupils taking exams this year will have experienced disruption to their education caused by COVID-19. Together with Ofqual, we consulted on and have confirmed a range of adaptations to GCSE and A/AS level exams, which take this disruption into account.

GCSE, AS and A level pupils have been provided with advance information, published by exam boards on 7 February, on the focus of their exams in most subjects to support revision. Pupils will also benefit from other changes to exams, including choices of topic or content and exam aids during the exam for some subjects at GCSE. Additionally, Ofqual has confirmed that 2022 will be a transition year for grading. Grades will be based around a mid-point between 2021 and pre-pandemic grades for GCSEs, A/S and A levels.