Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department will make a final decision on school exams going ahead in 2022.

We are determined to press ahead with examinations this year. We regularly engage with stakeholders throughout the education sector and there continues to be widespread support for examinations to go ahead.

Together with Ofqual, we consulted on and have confirmed a range of adaptations to GCSE and A/AS level exams. By 7 February, exam boards will be releasing advance information about the focus of the content of examinations in most GCSE and A/AS level subjects. Combined with the choice of content or topics in some GCSEs, and a transition year for grading, this package provides unprecedented support, reflecting the disruption caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

We have been clear our intention is for examinations to go ahead, but think it is right that we continue to have contingency plans in place for the unlikely event that examinations cannot go ahead fairly or safely, and have confirmed that students would receive teacher assessed grades instead.