Education secretary insists exams will go ahead in England next summer

Gavin Williamson is pressing ahead with plans to run GCSE and A-level exams next summer, insisting that youngsters would not be disadvantaged by the pandemic despite having to miss some schooling.

Exams in Scottish and Welsh schools have already been cancelled after regional leaders said Covid had caused too much disruption to pupils' education.

South Staffordshire MP Mr Williamson, who was forced to cancel this year's exams, has already announced that in 2021 exams will take place three weeks later than usual in a bid to give pupils more study time.

Pupils are expected to be given more generous grading, as well as advance notice of topics on some papers.

They will also be offered a "second chance" to sit papers if they miss through illness or self-isolation, and in cases where a pupil has a "legitimate reason" to miss all their exams, teacher-informed assessments can be used.

Education chiefs across the Black Country are split over the move, with one warning there must be no repeat of this year's chaos, which saw a Government U-turn over how grades were awarded.

Wolverhampton Council's education chief, Mike Hardacre, said it was a "tragedy" that exam boards only had estimated grades to go on due to Michael Gove "doing away" with coursework and continuous assessment when he was Education Secretary.

Potential

He added: "We saw the mess that this got them into last year, with continually changing what was going to happen.

"I do hope that Gavin Williamson has learnt from the mistakes and will establish a very clear outline of exactly what is going to happen, so that teachers can teach, children can learn and can be assessed in a sensible manner, commensurate with the situation that we find ourselves in.

"It is difficult to understand how a fair and level playing field can occur, with a single assessment at the end of a two year exam course, when our young people have suffered so much disruption."

Ruth Buttery, Dudley Council's education chief, said: “Children need more education not less, they are this country’s future and we need to make sure that they have the right education to fulfil their potential.

"When A-levels and GCSEs were cancelled in March, this left two groups of children without a purpose.

“Children’s whole time in education is geared towards exams in year 11, which is huge rite of passage.

“The support of their family and friends at this time is some of the most crucial support, guidance and advice they will ever have.

“To deprive them of this is to remove their motivation and reason to go to school and college.”

Walsall Council leader Mike Bird, said: "I think the Government has got to look at all options."