PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Children: Visual Impairment (12 January 2021)

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether there is legislation in place to ensure that schools seek the advice of Qualified Teachers of Visual Impairment when determining the grades of pupils with visual impairment.

Asked by:
Marsha De Cordova (Labour)

The Government has announced that, from 5 January 2021, schools and colleges have moved to remote provision, except for vulnerable children and children of critical workers. In light of the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Department will not be asking pupils to sit GCSE, AS and A level exams this summer as planned.

The Department and Ofqual have launched a two week consultation on how to fairly award all pupils, including pupils with visual impairments and other additional needs, with a grade that supports them to progress to the next stage of their lives.

The consultation proposes that teachers will be supported in awarding grades with the provision of training, guidance, and papers to inform assessments. Guidance materials will be made available after the consultation has closed and the detail of the approach is agreed. The Department would strongly encourage our stakeholders to respond to the consultation.

We will continue to engage with a range of relevant stakeholders, including groups with special educational needs and disabilities, when developing plans for our policy on GCSE, AS and A level assessments in 2021, as will the exams regulator, Ofqual.

Ofqual’s equalities analysis for 2020 can be accessed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/896443/Equalities_impact_assessment_appeals_consultation_300620.pdf#:~:text=Ofqual%20has%20an%20ongoing%20programme%20of%20work%20to,next%20on%20the%20grade%20awarded%20to%20the%20centre

Answered by:
Nick Gibb (Conservative)
21 January 2021