7. Will the Minister make a statement on GCSE and A-level qualifications next year? OQ57161

Qualifications Wales has announced that it's planning to run an exam series in summer 2022, with reductions in course content and other adaptations to reflect disruption to learning. We've also put a range of resources in place, with the WJEC, to support learning and to help young people to prepare.

Thank you for that response. The Government is preparing for a number of COVID-related scenarios in looking to next summer, and I understand that. But, of course, it does create great uncertainty for GCSE and A-level pupils. In terms of A-level, I declare a particularly interest here—not only have I a son who will be taking his A-levels this year, but this is the age group that I trained in rugby for many years, so I want to ensure that they can all deliver their potential. Given that they hadn't taken external AS exams last year because of COVID, hadn't taken GCSE exams the previous year because of COVID, then they are very concerned about the assessment process that they're to face. And given that taking an external examination is never a pleasant experience, even if you've had years of practice, it's even worse taking an exam that will have an influence on your life choices when you've not had that experience before. So, to what extent will that be taken into account in assessment? Because while some will be naturals, possibly, some who won't have taken exams in the past will be at risk of losing out. 

I've had conversations with learners recently, including a panel of learners that the children's commissioner brought together, in order to discuss this question. So, I had an opportunity to discuss directly some of the concerns that individuals and pupils have, as we'd expect, and as the Member mentioned. One of the important things is to realise how different exams will look in terms of their content in light of the work that Qualifications Wales and the WJEC have done. That is, they are much smaller in terms of their scope, because people have missed opportunities for classroom learning. That hasn't happened, by the way, in England. So, the kinds of interventions that we've undertaken here in Wales are much more bespoke in terms of the exam itself. But, partly with the source of funding I mentioned earlier—and I'm about to declare another fund in order to support A-level, GCSE and AS learners to have an opportunity to have much more direct support for preparing, but also to give certainty and confidence to people that they are on the correct pathway. So, more provision will come in the wake of that. But I think that we need to look at both elements: changes to the exams—they won't look, in terms of content and scope, like the previous exams—but also the support to ensure that the learners have the confidence to sit those exams.

Finally, question 8, Vikki Howells.