6. What action is the Welsh Government taking to support pupils taking their exams this year given the impact of COVID? OQ58231

A comprehensive package of support totalling £24 million is in place, which prioritises exam-year learners. Along with this, practical steps have also been taken, including adapting exam content, providing advanced information for learners and mid-point grade boundaries to make the return to exams as fair as possible. 

Thank you very much for that response. I declare an interest as the father of one pupil who's studying A-levels, but I know that I speak on behalf of many other pupils and parents who are very concerned about the A-level exams this year in the context of COVID. These are students who've never sat an external exam before because their GCSEs and AS-levels were cancelled. Yet, a greater proportion than usual of their grade, and the entire grade for many, is wholly based on their exam performance this year. And some have missed one out of two exams due to be taken this summer because of COVID, which means that their grade will be decided on the basis of the one paper that they've managed to sit. It feels very unfair to many. So, what certainty can the Minister give that the appeals process will be strengthened in order to be able to deal swiftly and fairly with cases where there is a sense that the circumstances this year have led to pupils being treated unfairly?

Well, it's been difficult for those pupils who haven't sat an external exam in the past, and that's understandable. And then concerns arising from exam papers that perhaps pupils hadn't expected, of course, also have an impact on them. And I am aware that, with few exam papers, including A-level maths, there were complaints and concerns about the content of some of those papers. The Member will certainly have seen the response of the WJEC on that, and any complaint made to them will be subject to a thorough inquiry and a review of that paper. 

There is one example of an English paper where content was missing, and clearly that was an error, and specific steps will be taken as a result of that, but it is possible to grade in a way that reflects the fact the content was missing, or reflecting the fact that some questions were more difficult than expected.

So, I will give the Member an assurance that the grading scheme can be looked at as those papers are marked. But, also, appeal arrangements will be able to deal with some of the other questions that arise, and, this year, we will also ensure that the cost of appeal won't be a barrier to those who might struggle to pay for that appeal, so that there is fairness within the system. 

Joyce Watson took the Chair.

Minister, this is an issue I know I've raised with you previously as well, in terms of the extra support that students need to be supported due to missing education over the course of the pandemic. But I would ask you to what extent the mechanisms that you've developed to offer that additional support will remain in place after the pandemic, for perhaps other means where students need additional support. I'm particularly thinking of the new curriculum with that in mind as well.

I think that's a very good question. The Power Up campaign, as he knows from our previous exchanges and, I'm sure, his own experience, provides a package of revision support, but signposting for other support as well, as well as, in the case of this year, the adaptations to content for the exams specifically. It's a sort of comprehensive, if you like, one-stop shop. I think there are approaches from that that might be beneficial into the future, in particular some of the well-being approaches, because what we obviously know is that the pressures that exist for learners this year will not simply disappear for learners next year. So, we will be looking creatively at how we can maintain some of those resources. Some of them obviously lend themselves to being available into the future in any case; some are more specific to the exams for this summer. But, just to assure the Member, we are looking at what we can do with that to make it more widely available into the future as well.