The Education Secretary has unveiled a package of exceptional measures to support students taking exams and other assessments next year, to ensure they are as fair as possible and students are not disadvantaged by the unprecedented disruption to their studies caused by the pandemic.

Exams are the fairest way to judge a student’s performance and we have made keeping schools and colleges open a national priority throughout the pandemic.

In recognition of the challenges faced by students, exams will be different next year - grades will be more generous, students will be given advance notice of some topic areas, and steps will be taken to ensure every student receives a grade, even if they miss a paper due to self-isolation or illness.

Building on the three-week delay to exams to free up extra teaching time announced in October, the new measures include:

• more generous grading than usual, in line with national outcomes from 2020, so students this year are not disadvantaged;
• students receiving advance notice of some topic areas covered in GCSE, AS and A levels to focus revision;
• exam aids - like formula sheets - provided in some exams giving students more confidence and reducing the amount of information they need to memorise;
• additional exams to give students a second chance to sit a paper if the main exams or assessments are missed due to illness or self-isolation; and
• a new expert group to look at differential learning and monitor the variation in the impact of the pandemic on students across the country.

Today’s steps follow extensive engagement with Ofqual, exam boards and senior leaders across the education sector.

Students taking vocational and technical qualifications will also see adaptations to ensure parity between general and vocational qualifications. Some vocational qualifications will require more varied adaptations due to the different qualification types.

The Government are determined to prevent young people’s education being hindered by the pandemic and by announcing these measures now we can give young people the clarity and confidence they need to achieve every success.