Gavin Williamson vows A-levels and GCSEs will not be cancelled in England

The education secretary, Gavin Williamson, has said he could “absolutely” give a cast-iron guarantee that exams in England would not be cancelled next year, as the government unveiled plans to support students affected by the pandemic.

After months of uncertainty for pupils and their teachers, the government announced that pupils in England sitting GCSEs and A-levels next summer would be given advance notice of topics and allowed to take in exam aids including formula sheets.

Students will also be awarded more generous grades, in line with last summer’s significantly improved results, the government said.

Williamson said the “exceptional package of measures” were designed to level the playing field for pupils whose study has been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. Last week, one in five secondary pupils were absent from school for Covid-related reasons.

Asked on Sky News on Thursday whether he could give a “cast-iron guarantee” that GCSEs and A-levels would go ahead next year, Williamson said: “Absolutely.”

He added: “Tens of thousands of students have been taking those GCSE and A-level exams all the way through that national lockdown, and that’s been done safely and securely and successfully.

“I have every confidence if we’ve been able to run a whole set of exams for GCSEs and A-levels during a national lockdown, we have every ability to run those same set of exams in the summer of next year.”

The decision to plough on with next year’s exams in England is in contrast to Wales, which announced last month that GCSEs and A-levels were cancelled, and in Scotland, where there will be no National 5 exams and ministers have not yet decided whether Higher exams will go ahead.

Williamson insisted that England was taking the same route as Germany, Finland and Singapore and that exams were the best form of assessment for students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Asked on BBC Breakfast whether he was suggesting that poorer pupils in Scotland and Wales would become more disadvantaged by the cancellation of exams, the education secretary said: “Every study that has been carried out has found [that] … predicted grades and teacher assessment most disadvantage children from black and ethnic minority backgrounds.

“So we do believe that exam assessment is the best form, but we do equally recognise that we’re going to have to take extraordinary measures to support children.”

Williamson is under pressure to avoid any repeat of the results fiasco this summer, when exams were cancelled and standardised grades were abandoned in favour of school-assessed grades after concerns were raised about fairness.

Headteachers and teaching unions welcomed the announcement but said it had come far too late, and many expressed continuing concern about wide disparities in learning within the cohort.

Details of exam topics will be released in January to enable teachers to make best use of limited teaching time and focus pupils’ revision. Modern languages students will be able to take in vocabulary sheets to reduce the amount of material that needs to be memorised, but English literature texts will not be allowed. Vocational and technical qualifications will be adapted to ensure parity, the DfE said.

Kate Green, the shadow education secretary, said she was pleased that the government had “finally” set out its support for students but that it was “coming very late on” and had increased the stress on pupils.

She told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “We’re nearly at the Christmas holidays and students have been very, very anxious ever since September, and teachers uncertain about what they should be preparing their students for.

“It is good now that it’s recognised that special arrangements are going to have to be in place if we’re to treat students fairly next summer. I’m glad the government’s making this announcement, although I still think it could go further and we certainly need more information, for example, about when schools are going to be given advance notice of what subjects will be in the papers.”