Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that students in Rother Valley who have taken BTEC and vocational exams in January 2021 are provided with the opportunity to resit those examinations later in the 2020-21 academic year.

We are working with Ofqual, awarding organisations and other stakeholders to discuss the next steps and provide more detail on the way forward. We will put in place arrangements to ensure students are not disadvantaged.

We want to ensure that students who have worked hard to prepare for January assessments and exams have the opportunity to take them, if their school or college decides to go ahead.

In the event that is not possible, we will put in place arrangements to ensure they are treated fairly in comparison to their peers taking similar assessments and have a way to progress with as little disruption as possible.

We will continue to develop our approach in consultation with Ofqual, awarding organisations and the sector, providing more detail on the way forward for vocational exams and assessments for February 2021 onwards.