Source · Select Committees · Education Committee
Recommendation 32
32
Paragraph: 123
For that reason, we repeat our predecessor Committee’s recommendations with regards to public examinations.
Conclusion
For that reason, we repeat our predecessor Committee’s recommendations with regards to public examinations. This seems reasonable in order to help EHE children gain the qualifications needed for future education, training and employment.
Paragraph Reference:
123
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
34. Many schools, colleges and other examination centres accept private candidates for examinations. The decision to accept private candidates is a matter for the individual centres to decide in light of their specific circumstances and the needs of the students concerned. The Department encourages all available exam centres to consider supporting private candidates and we have worked closely with the sector to ensure that there are enough centres available to support private candidates to take exams, with JCQ publishing a list of available centres to assist students in finding a suitable centre ahead of the entry deadline, first for the exceptional 2021 summer TAGs, and now on an ongoing basis. 35. The Department’s guidance on EHE highlights that parents/carers who home educate will need to assume full financial responsibility for their child’s education. This includes paying for the cost of entering their child for examinations. Some local authorities may provide financial or other assistance to home-educating families for public examinations, but this is discretionary. 36. In 2021, in light of the impact of the pandemic, GCSE grades were determined by teachers (Teacher Assessed Grades). To support centres with the additional requirements of assessing private candidates in 2021 we provided an exceptional grant to centres of £200 per private candidate entry. This funding aimed to avoid these additional costs being passed on to private candidates, so that they could access qualifications at a similar cost to a normal exam year. 37. The Children Not In School consultation proposed a duty on local authorities to provide support to home educating families, should they want it. In theory, this could be in the form of examination support, however details of potential support will be included in the consultation response which will be published in the coming months, and will likely be subject to further discussion and consultation.