Further details regarding the government’s plans for pupils due to sit GCSEs and A levels this summer are to be revealed tomorrow.
Following yesterday’s announcement that all schools would close from this Friday, Gavin Williamson said this morning that the government had a “clear preference” over what should happen following the cancellation of this summer’s exams, but he is not prepared to outline it yet.
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The education secretary did say that pupils would get their GCSE and A-level grades and that there would be a “mechanism” for pupils unhappy with their grades to seek redress.
“We will be putting details out tomorrow but children are not going to be sitting exams this year, and we’ll be doing everything we can do to make sure they get results in August as they would be hoping to,” Williamson told the BBC’s Today programme.
“But we can’t predict as to how things are going to totally unfold, and so the impact it has on all those organisations that are doing this work - but it’s so vital for me and for those children who’ve put so much work into all their learning over these years, in terms of working up to their GCSEs and A levels, to get their result, but also make sure we have a proper and fair system if they dispute that, if they’re not content with it, some mechanism for them to have redress.”
Mr Williamson said that the government would not be able to run exams as normal this year but that further details on how pupils would get their results would be released tomorrow.
Mr Williamson was asked whether the government had a preference between two options available for pupils sitting A levels - to use teacher assessments and mock exams or to use a form of online assessment for pupils
“The government does have a clear preference and we’ve already had discussions with Universities UK, the NAHT and ASCL and other unions outlining the approach we’re looking at doing - it’s very important, we’ve obviously been working incredibly closely with Ofqual and the examining bodies,” he said.
“We’re going to be revealing further details of our approach tomorrow but the key thing is this is not the perfect way that anyone would be wishing to approach it.”
He also told the programme that schools remaining open for the children of key workers would not run as “educational settings”.
