Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Summer 2021 Year 11 Exams

Monday 12 October 2020 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Ministerial plans for year 11 exams at the end of the 2020-21 academic year were announced on 2020-10-12.
  • The Department of Education aims to work with Ofqual to prepare for potential disruptions to ensure fair results for students.
  • Subject level changes and timing adjustments to exams were mentioned to reduce student pressure and free up teaching time.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Caroline Nokes Con Romsey and Southampton North
Education
Context

The question arises from the need to prepare arrangements for GCSE examinations for Year 11 students at the end of a disrupted academic year.

Question

What steps has his Department taken to plan and prepare for arrangements for year 11 exams at the end of the 2020-21 academic year? The department continues to believe that exams are the fairest form of assessment. Today we announced our plans for next summer's year 11 exams to take place, and we will work with Ofqual to engage the sector in planning for a range of scenarios of potential disruption to exams to ensure students get the results they deserve.

Answer from Nick Gibb

Today we announced our plans for next summer's year 11 exams to take place—the GCSEs—and we will work with Ofqual to engage the sector in planning for a range of scenarios of potential disruption to exams to ensure students get the results they deserve.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific steps taken and the mechanisms of how those plans are implemented were not detailed.

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Q2 Caroline Nokes Con Romsey and Southampton North
Education
Context

The question addresses concerns about how upcoming GCSE exams will account for learning disruptions due to school closures. A constituent, Charlotte, has written to raise these issues.

Question

I welcome my right hon. Friend's written statement today and thank him for ending the uncertainty that was facing pupils, teachers and parents alike. Please can he reassure constituents such as one of mine, 15-year-old Charlotte, who wrote to me a couple of weeks ago and inspired this question today, that next year's exams will take into account the disruption there has been to their learning, while allowing them to demonstrate their ability and what they have learned over the past few years, and please will he reassure her that further detail as to how that will be achieved will be coming very soon?

Answer from Nick Gibb

My right hon. Friend raises an important point. We do believe that the subject level changes to the content of assessment that was confirmed by Ofqual recently will reduce the pressure on students and free up teaching time. Combined with the timing changes to exams announced today, this does free up more teaching time to help address any unfairness. On top of that, as I have said before, there is the £1 billion catch-up fund, and we will have more to say later in the autumn about the issue of grading.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific reassurances and detailed plans on how exams will account for learning disruptions were not provided.

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