Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to provide support to students sitting their GCSEs this year whose learning may have been affected by the covid-19 pandemic.

The department welcomed the successful return of summer exams and other formal assessments in 2022.

The department and Ofqual have confirmed that in the 2022/23 academic year, exams and formal assessments will largely return to pre-pandemic arrangements in summer 2023.

Ofqual confirmed a return to pre-pandemic grading in 2023. However, to protect students against disruption of recent years, and in case students’ performance is slightly lower than before the COVID-19 pandemic, senior examiners will use the grades achieved by previous cohorts of pupils, along with prior attainment data, to inform their decisions about where to set grade boundaries.

The department has decided that formulae and equation sheets for GCSE mathematics, physics and combined sciences exams should be provided for any exams taken next summer. We have asked Ofqual to put this in place and they launched a consultation on this.

The government has also provided a range of support packages to help students recover from the pandemic, targeted at those that need help most.

The department’s ambitious, multi-year education recovery plan supports young people to catch up on missed learning by investing in what we know works: teacher training and evidence-based support, including tutoring and extra education opportunities.

The department knows that disadvantaged children have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. We are committed to helping these pupils to recover and close the attainment gap. That is why the department’s recovery programmes, such as the recovery premium and the National Tutoring Programme, are especially focused on helping the most disadvantaged.