(The Minister of State for School
Standards): I would like to update the House on
arrangements for awarding qualifications in England this summer
following the Secretary of State’s previous Written Ministerial
Statement (HCWS176) made on 23 March.
In the Secretary of State’s previous statement, he said that the
independent qualifications regulator, Ofqual, would develop and
set out a process for GCSEs, AS levels and A levels that would
provide a calculated grade to each student which reflects their
performance as fairly as possible, and work with the exam boards
to ensure this was consistently applied for all students.
On 3 April, Ofqual set out details on how GCSEs, AS and A levels
will be awarded this summer. The information can be found
on Gov.uk.
Ofqual has also launched a consultation on aspects of the new
system for grading these qualifications, with a deadline for
response of 29 April. The consultation is available
on Gov.uk.
I can confirm that AS and A level results will be published on 13
August and GCSE results on 20 August, as originally planned.
Releasing results on the planned dates will enable students to
progress to higher or further education and allow students time
to decide whether they wish to sit exams in the autumn term, and
to prepare for those exams if necessary.
I can also confirm that we are continuing to work at pace with
Ofqual to determine the approaches to assessment and awarding of
vocational and technical qualifications, as well as other general
qualifications which are not GCSEs, AS levels or A levels. On 9
April, Ofqual set out its approach for the assessment and
awarding of these qualifications. Qualifications which are used
for progression to further and higher education should, as far as
possible, be treated in the same way as GCSEs, AS and A levels,
with students receiving a calculated result. Calculated results
will draw appropriately on a range of evidence, depending on the
structure of the qualification. It will not be appropriate to
issue calculated results for all vocational and technical
qualifications, such as those used to signal occupational
competence. These qualifications should, wherever possible,
receive adapted assessments. The information can be found
on Gov.uk.
On 24 April, Ofqual also launched a consultation on
implementation of these measures. The consultation closes on 8
May. It can be found on Gov.uk.
The aim is to ensure that results for vocational and technical
qualifications and other general qualifications that are used for
progression to further or higher education are made available at
the same time as GCSEs, AS and A levels.
