Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on making in-year changes to the list of approved qualifications in Key Stage 4 performance tables.

The Department operates an annual process to judge the suitability of qualifications that awarding organisations put forward for inclusion in performance tables.

Awarding organisations submit qualifications on a termly basis to be considered for inclusion in performance tables. We publish and update the lists of approved qualifications four times a year.

We reserve the right to remove a qualification from the approved list if we have evidence to indicate that it no longer meets the requirements for inclusion in the performance tables. In-year changes to the list may be made in exceptional circumstances. In making such a decision, we would consider whether there is sufficient curriculum time remaining for an alternative qualification to be studied.