Government Response

The Government responded to this petition on Monday 15th February 2021

The department will continue to monitor the impact of the pandemic on all students, including those due to take exams in 2022, to ensure that students in this cohort can achieve a fair grade.

The government remains clear that exams are the fairest method to assess students. GCSE, AS and A levels rigorously assess the knowledge acquired by students and are in line with expected standards in countries with high performing education systems.

Despite the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, students and teachers will be working hard to prepare for exams and assessments in 2022. We know that it is important that students in this cohort are able to achieve their qualifications safely and fairly and we will continue to monitor the impact of the pandemic on all students to ensure that those due to take exams in 2022 are supported to move to the next stage of their lives fairly.

To support students to catch up with their education, the government has announced a catch-up package worth £1bn to support children and young people. This includes a ‘Catch up Premium’ worth £650m and a £350m National Tutoring Programme for disadvantaged pupils.

We have also announced that we will provide a further programme of catch up over the next financial year. This will involve a further £300m for early years, schools and colleges for tutoring and we will work in collaboration with the education sector to develop specific initiatives for summer schools and a Covid Premium to support catch up.

We recognise that these extended school and college closures have had a huge impact on children and young people’s education, which will take more than a year to make up. We will work in collaboration with the wider education sector – to develop a long-term plan to make sure children and young people have the chance to make up their education over the course of this Parliament, with the PM appointed Sir Kevan Collins as the Education Recovery Commissioner.

Understanding the impact of Covid disruption is a key priority for the Government. The Department has commissioned an independent research agency to analyse catch-up needs and monitor progress over this academic year.

Department for Education