Students now have more time to prepare for their exams next year, as most AS, A levels and GCSEs will be held 3 weeks later to help address the disruption caused by the pandemic.

The Prime Minister and Education Secretary are clear that exams will go ahead, as they are the fairest and most accurate way to measure a pupil’s attainment.

Today (12 October), the government is announcing the summer exam series will start on 7 June and end on 2 July for almost all AS and A levels and GCSEs.

Results days are Tuesday 24 August for A and AS levels and Friday 27 August for GCSEs so students will start the following academic year as normal.

The government continues to prioritise children’s education in its response to the pandemic, building on the remarkable efforts of teachers, students and parents in keeping pupils learning at school and at home.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

Fairness to pupils is my priority, and will continue to be at the forefront of every decision we take in the lead up to exams next summer. Exams are the fairest way of judging a student’s performance so they will go ahead, underpinned by contingency measures developed in partnership with the sector.

Students have experienced considerable disruption and it’s right we give them, and their teachers, the certainty that exams will go ahead and more time to prepare.

Combined with our £1 billion catch-up programme and the changes proposed by Ofqual to free up teaching time, the changes I am announcing today give young people the best chance of being ready for their exams without undermining the value of the qualifications they receive.

I will continue to work closely with stakeholders and I’m grateful for the commitment and willingness that’s been shown in delivering this additional time to ensure young people have the best opportunity to succeed.

Schools and colleges have shown exams can be held, even in areas of local restriction. The autumn exam series – involving more than 20,000 entries – is already underway.

Given rising case numbers and the battle to suppress the virus, it is also right that there is consideration of the range of scenarios which might impact students’ ability to sit exams and develop contingency plans.

The Education Secretary has today written to Ofqual (PDF, 180KB, 2 pages) to ask the regulator to work closely with him, school and further education leaders, exam boards, unions and the higher education sector to develop these arrangements.

The government will engage widely with the sector over the next 6 weeks to identify any risks to exams at a national, local, and individual student level, and consider measures needed to address any potential disruption. This could be a student unable to sit exams due to illness or self-isolation, or schools affected by a local outbreak during the examination season meaning centres cannot open.

More detail will be published later in the autumn, to ensure students have confidence that they will be fairly treated in terms of assessment in 2021.

One maths and one English GCSE exam will be held just before the May half-term, giving any year 11 pupils who are affected by COVID-19 the best possible chance of still sitting a paper in each of these core subjects.

The government is also confirming today that no further subject-level changes to exams and assessments will be made for GCSEs, AS and A levels. The changes outlined by Ofqual are designed to release time for teaching and to take account of public health considerations. This confirmation gives teachers, school leaders and pupils clarity on what will be assessed in exams next summer. This follows a public consultation carried out by the exams’ regulator, Ofqual, earlier this year. Ofqual has also consulted on how assessments of vocational and technical qualifications will be adapted to free up teaching time and respond to any future public health measures.

Our £1 billion COVID-19 catch-up fund will help to tackle the impact of lost teaching time. The programme includes a £650 million catch up premium to help schools support all pupils and £350 million National Tutoring Programme for disadvantaged students.

It is expected that for the majority of vocational and technical qualifications that are taken alongside or instead of GCSEs, AS and A levels, awarding organisations will look to align timetables with 2021 exams.

Journeys will be easier and more comfortable for disabled people with more than a third of motorway service stations set to have Changing Places toilets.

The Department for Transport, in partnership with Muscular Dystrophy UK (MDUK), has today announced the 22 motorway service areas that have been successful in their bid for a share of government funding for Changing Places toilets.

A second round of funding is now being launched, this time extended to include A roads, with operators of service stations on these routes, as well as on motorways, invited to bid.

A quarter of a million people cannot use standard accessible toilets and need access to Changing Places facilities, which have more space and equipment. This includes adult-sized changing benches and hoists, allowing people with conditions like muscular dystrophy and cerebral palsy to use the bathroom safely and comfortably.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:

In a modern country, everyone should be able to travel.

Despite improvements in some areas, we need our roadside services to be better for the quarter of a million people who cannot use standard accessible toilets.

This is why we would like to go even further by extending this to the trunk road network. I encourage as many operators as possible to apply for funding, to open up our road network to everyone who wants to use it.

Accessibility Minister Nusrat Ghani said:

I am delighted to be awarding nearly £750,000 to bring Changing Places toilets to 22 more service stations, helping ensure that everyone can use our roads easily and comfortably.

This is one of the commitments set out in our Inclusive Transport Strategy, an ambitious piece of work to complement the UN’s sustainable development goals – helping make the world more inclusive for disabled people.

However, we know there is more to do which is why we are working hard on ensuring our wider transport network – not just roads, but railways, buses, aeroplanes and ferries too – is open to all.

The DfT’s £2 million partnership with MDUK was announced last November to bring Changing Places toilets to more motorway service areas.

The fund was launched in April and motorway service area operators submitted their proposals for 50% funding support for specific new Changing Places toilet installations, which are expected to be ready by the early 2020s.

MDUK worked with the DfT to allocate funding which will support each individual operator’s building work and equipment to add Changing Places toilets alongside other accessible facilities within their service stations. Catherine Woodhead, Chief Executive of Muscular Dystrophy UK, which co-chairs the Changing Places Consortium, said:

Too many disabled people and their families are excluded from doing things that others take for granted because there are not enough Changing Places. We’re delighted that, thanks to the DfT’s funding, 22 service stations will be installing these facilities.

This will make it easier for a quarter of a million people to go on holiday, enjoy a day out with friends, or simply visit the shops.

We won’t stop campaigning until every service station in the country has a Changing Places toilet, and we would encourage businesses who haven’t done so already to apply for funding in the next round of applications.

The investment is part of the government’s Inclusive Transport Strategy which aims to provide equal access to the transport network by 2030, with assistance if physical infrastructure remains a barrier.

Published in 2018, it set out key commitments to improve disabled people’s access across all modes of transport by 2030. Achievements so far include:

• a commitment to extend the Access for All programme with an additional £300 million, delivering improvements at a further 73 stations between 2019 and 2024
• the introduction of the first impartial and independent Rail Ombudsman, making sure passengers are heard and that they get a fair deal when train companies fall short
• the extension of the Blue Badge eligibility criteria to include people with non-visible disabilities

The government announced in May proposals for new, or majorly refurbished, large buildings used by the public to have Changing Places toilets for severely disabled people. This could add the toilets to more than 150 new buildings a year, including shopping centres, supermarkets, cinemas, stadiums and arts venues. This builds upon the government’s announcement last December of £2 million funding to kickstart installation of Changing Places facilities in NHS hospitals.

The Changing Places application portal will be open until December.

The 22 successful motorway service area operators are:

The second round funded areas are:

The Charity Commission has issued an Official Warning to the trustees of Helping Our Future for repeated failure to engage with the regulator in response to serious concerns about the charity.

Helping Our Future has charitable objects to support children in the UK, Pakistan and India. The charity is based in Wolverhampton.

The Commission opened a regulatory compliance case into the charity in December 2016 following concerns about the charity’s use of clothing recycling banks.

Complaints included that companies connected to the charity had removed other charities’ recycling banks and had failed to obtain the relevant permission from landowners before situating their own banks. The charity took no action in response.

When asked about these companies by the Commission, the trustees could not explain how they worked, how the amount due to the charity was calculated or what clothing had been collected.

The trustees also did not demonstrate any oversight or control over funds being raised in the charity’s name through its clothing recycling banks.

Other concerns included:

• contact with the trustees was difficult; the correspondent changed frequently, it was unclear who was the CEO and meetings were cancelled or postponed at short notice

• when the Commission did meet with the trustees, they had little knowledge of their roles and responsibilities, or why certain activities had been undertaken by the charity

• the trustees were unaware of their financial responsibilities, filed late accounts for 2018 and 2019, and their bank account was closed with no new account opened

• the trustees attempted to amend their charitable objects without obtaining the relevant permission from the regulator, misrepresented these charity objects in places including on the charity’s website and carried out activities that did not further those objects.

The Commission tried repeatedly to engage with the trustees and resolve its concerns, over several years.

However, as a result of successive failures by the trustees to address concerns and engage with the Commission, the regulator has taken the significant step of exercising its power under section 75A of the Charities Act 2011 to issue an Official Warning to the trustees, directing them to take specific actions.

Helen Earner, Director of Regulatory Services at the Charity Commission, said:

Good governance is not a bureaucratic detail – it underpins the delivery of a charity’s purposes to the high standards expected by the public. It’s the way in which trustees can ensure they are meeting their responsibilities to their charity and its beneficiaries.

The trustees of Helping Our Future did not demonstrate good governance or act even after significant concerns were raised with them. They have also been obstructive in response to our approaches. We expect the trustees to now act quickly to comply with the required actions and address our continued concerns.

Failure to comply with the actions set out in the Official Warning will lead to the regulator taking further action against the trustees.

The Commission has an ongoing regulatory case into Helping Our Future.

Ends.

Notes to Editors:

1. The Official Warning was issued to the trustees in place at the charity at the time. Note, trustees were removed, added and some re-appointed as trustees during the course of the charity’s interactions with the Commission.

2. The trustees issued with the Official Warning are Marcia Vargova, Saffron Amber Hill, Chris Williamson, Ella Simone Hall and David Usher.

3. The Charity Commission is the independent, non-ministerial government department that registers and regulates charities in England and Wales. Its purpose is to ensure charity can thrive and inspire trust so that people can improve lives and strengthen society.