Should exams next summer be pushed back because of Covid-19?

Pupils and teachers across York, Harrogate and North Yorkshire are calling for the government to make a decision on whether GCSE and A Level exams should be delayed next summer.

Author: Natalie HigginsPublished 1st Sep 2020

Students and teachers across North Yorkshire are waiting for the government to decide whether to delay next year's GCSE and A Level exams in England.

As students return to school next week, it's raised concerns about what will happen to next summer's exams when so much teaching time has been lost.

Lynn James is the Executive Principal for Outwood Academy schools Ripon and Easingwold, she said: "There is a point in the academic year where we do need to know what is possibly going to happen, because the situation is always changing.

"There's huge organisation that goes into planning exams in a school, such as how many people can be sat in an exam. Those things in this academic term would need to be considered.

"We do need to make sure we are carefully considering exams, not just rushing to a quick decision which might have unintended consequences. We need to make sure what happens with exams is equitable."

A decision on whether to delay next year's GCSE and A-level exams in England will be made "very soon", schools minister Nick Gibb has said.

In June, the government announced that exams were likely to be pushed back to later in the summer than usual, but the schools minister Nick Gibb has said a decision will be made "very soon".