Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will work with the Office for Students to provide guidance to universities on how to effectively take account of the effect of the covid-19 pandemic on academic performance.

It is vital that a fair approach to exams and assessment is in place and understood by students. As autonomous bodies, higher education (HE) providers will make their own judgements about how best to ensure students’ achievements are reliably and fairly assessed.

The government’s clear and stated expectation is that quality and academic standards must be maintained. We expect providers to make all reasonable efforts for student achievement to be reliably assessed and for qualifications to be awarded securely.

The Office for Students (OfS), as the HE regulator in England, has produced guidance to the sector setting out expectations about provider approaches to teaching and assessment during this time. OfS guidance is clear that standards must be maintained, but clearly changes to assessments may be required in some circumstances. The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) has also published resources for providers on practical ways in which students can be assessed and complete their studies while ensuring quality and standards are upheld.

The government will continue to work closely with the QAA, professional bodies and the OfS to ensure students continue to leave university with qualifications that have real value, reflect their hard work and allow people to progress.