As part of its role as the independent regulator of exams and assessments in England, Ofqual provided assurance to officials in the department that AQA had appropriate contingency arrangements in place to mitigate any potential risks to exam delivery.

Whilst Ofqual cannot directly intervene in AQA’s internal disputes, it will continue to monitor the situation to ensure the strike action does not impact AQA’s ability to deliver exams and results this year.

Ofqual, the independent regulator of exams and assessments in England, oversees awarding organisations, including AQA, by conducting readiness reviews, evaluating their governance and ability to manage key delivery risks.

The department has received assurances from Ofqual that AQA has contingency processes in place to mitigate any risks to exam delivery.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has not had any discussions with AQA regarding the impact of wage stagnation or staff strike action.

Ofqual, the independent regulator of exams and assessments in England, oversees awarding organisations, including AQA, by conducting readiness reviews, evaluating their governance and ability to manage key delivery risks.

The department has received assurances from Ofqual that AQA has contingency processes in place to mitigate any risks to exam delivery.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has not had any discussions with AQA regarding the impact of wage stagnation or staff strike action.

Ofqual, the independent regulator of exams and assessments in England, oversees awarding organisations, including AQA, by conducting readiness reviews, evaluating their governance and ability to manage key delivery risks.

The department has received assurances from Ofqual that AQA has contingency processes in place to mitigate any risks to exam delivery.

It is not possible to address the differential impact of disruption to teaching and learning by making changes to exams and assessments for some students or groups of students. Exams and assessments must demonstrate what a student knows, understands and can do in respect of particular qualification specifications, rather than what a student might have known, understood or been able to do should circumstances have been different.

Departmental officials are, however, working closely with affected schools to ensure the best possible education for students and are taking every step possible to remove any obstacles to learning through mitigations. This includes temporary accommodation where needed and in some instances the use of specialist facilities in off-site accommodation. Any school or college that is struggling to deliver particular assessments due to RAAC will receive support according to their specific circumstances.

The department has also asked awarding organisations to be as flexible as possible within the confines of their processes and regulations, for example by agreeing longer extensions to coursework and non-exam assessment deadlines with affected schools and colleges.

It is for AQA to resolve the industrial dispute with UNISON. The department has not had discussions with AQA on the industrial dispute in question. As the independent regulator for qualifications, Ofqual works with exam boards to make sure that any potential risks to the timely and secure delivery of GCSE, AS and A levels are appropriately managed. Ofqual has been closely monitoring the situation and meeting regularly with senior staff at AQA to discuss their contingency plans. AQA has provided assurances that the ongoing industrial action will not impact on the delivery of GCSE, AS and A level results or post-results services.

The department has not had discussions with representatives of AQA about the alleged leak of material from an A level chemistry paper. While serious exam malpractice remains rare, it is vital that any breach is thoroughly investigated by the exam boards.

Exam boards have well established processes in place to manage such incidents. AQA have confirmed that their Exams Integrity team is investigating these reports and they will take any action necessary, including working with the police.

While such leaks are very rare, exam boards have demonstrated previously that they are able to effectively gather evidence about the students who had unauthorised access to any questions before the exam was taken. In the event of a leak, Ofqual will work with the exam board to minimise the impact on students.

The department is aware of the reports around an alleged leak of material from a A-level Chemistry paper and we take all allegations of wrongdoing extremely seriously. While serious exam malpractice remains rare, it is vital that any breach is thoroughly investigated by the exam boards.

Exam boards have well established processes in place to manage such incidents. AQA have confirmed that their exams integrity team is investigating these reports and they will take any action necessary, including working with the police.

Exam boards have demonstrated previously that they are able to effectively gather evidence about the students who had unauthorised access to any questions before the exam was taken. In the event of a leak, Ofqual will work with the exam board to minimise the impact on students.

As previously announced, the Government will review the GCSE physical education activity list in autumn 2018, following the first examinations this summer. The Department will agree this process with the examination boards and Ofqual and announce details closer to the time. This review will apply to published subject content with which all examination boards are required to comply. The Department would not expect this to lead to changes in the marking criteria.

Information on GCSE science unit level exam entries, awards and remarking requests is not held by the Department but is collated by the qualifications regulator, Ofqual.

Glenys Stacey, Ofqual's Chief Regulator, has written to the hon. Member with such information relevant to the questions as Ofqual holds. A copy of her reply has been placed in the House Libraries.

Letter from Glenys Stacey, dated 14 January 2013:

The Secretary of State has asked Ofqual to respond to the parliamentary questions you have raised. Please find our responses below.

If you would like to discuss any of these in more detail, please do not hesitate to contact me.

PQ 135916

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many of the AQA Unit 1 science examination papers sat for GCSE (a) biology, (b) chemistry and (c) physics were (i) requested to be remarked and (ii) were remarked in (A) June 2011, (B) January 2012 and (C) June 2012.

For the summer exam series 2012 we collected the number of enquiries for remarks by unit from awarding organisations. These figures are set out in the table below. The column "enquiries" shows the number of requests received and re-marked. The "%" column shows those enquiries as a percentage of the total number of entries for that unit.

Previous to this, we collected for each summer exam series the total number of unit enquiries. These figures do not break down at an individual unit level. Awarding organisations sent Ofqual individual units only if the percentage of enquiries for remarks to the total entry was greater than 5%. None of the science subjects for AQA fell into this category.

PQ 136058

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of students received an A* grade for the AQA Unit 1 GCSE papers sat in (a) biology, (b) chemistry and (c) physics in January 2012.

In January 2012, 0.6% of students achieved a unit-level A* grade in Biology unit 1, 1.4% in Chemistry unit 1 and 0.9% in Physics unit 1.

PQ 136059

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students received an A* grade for AQA Unit 1 GCSE papers sat in (a) biology, (b) chemistry and (c) physics in January 2012.

In January 2012, 561 students achieved a unit-level A* grade in Biology unit 1, 1,168 in Chemistry unit l and 710 in Physics unit 1.

PQ 136061

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils received an A* grade in the AQA Unit 1 GCSE science papers sat in (a) biology, (b) chemistry and (c) physics in June 2012.

In June 2012, 10,273 students achieved a unit-level A* grade in Biology unit 1, 11,077 in Chemistry unit 1 and 8,022 in Physics unit 1.

PQ 136062

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of students received an A* grade in the AQA Unit 1 GCSE science papers sat in (a) biology, (b) chemistry and (c) physics in June 2012.

In June 2012, 6.9% of students achieved a unit-level A* grade in Biology unit 1, 7.4% in Chemistry unit 1 and 5.4% in Physics unit 1.

Please do get in touch if you would like to discuss these issues or any others in relation to our regulatory role.

Responsibility for managing and agreeing the process of setting grade boundaries for GCSE qualifications is a matter for the independent exams regulator, Ofqual and exam boards. The Department has no role in those decisions.

Glenys Stacey, Ofqual's chief regulator, has written to the hon. Member with such information relevant to the question as Ofqual holds. A copy of her reply has been placed in the House Libraries.

Letter from Glenys Stacey, dated 14 January 2013:

The Secretary of State has asked Ofqual to respond to the parliamentary questions you have raised. Please find our responses below.

If you would like to discuss any of this in more detail, please do not hesitate to contact me.

“To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) emails were sent and (b) meetings were held between Ofqual and AQA on the setting of grade boundaries for Unit 1 GCSE science papers in (i) biology, (ii) chemistry and (iii) physics (A) prior to the January 2012 examinations and (B) between the January 2012 and June 2012 examinations.”

We did not hold any meetings (nor have email correspondence) with AQA to discuss the setting of grade boundaries for these unit 1 papers (or any other units), either prior to the January 2012 examinations or between the January 2012 and June 2012 examinations.

We do discuss with exam boards the grade standards for qualifications overall, including GCSE science. In this case we discussed the expected overall grade standards for new GCSE Science qualifications with exam boards at various points between June 2011 and June 2012. These discussions involved all exam boards together rather than with each exam board individually. Further information on what was agreed can be found in the documents on the ‘Summer Exams 2012' page on our website:

http://www.ofqual.gov.uk/standards/summer-exams-2012/

Please do get in touch if you would like to discuss these issues or any others in relation to our regulatory role.

[holding answers 7 September 2012]: I have had no meetings with AQA, or any other awarding organisation, on the subject of this year's GCSE results.

Procedures relating to the marking and grading of GCSEs are matters for awarding organisations and the independent regulator, Ofqual, which is accountable to Parliament. Ofqual published its initial report on 2012 GCSE English awards on 31 August 2012, which is available at:

http://www.ofqual.gov.uk/files/2012-08-31-gcse-english-awards-2012-a-regulatory-report.pdf

[holding answers 7 September 2012]: I have had no meetings with AQA, or any other awarding organisation, on the subject of this year's GCSE results.

Procedures relating to the marking and grading of GCSEs are matters for awarding organisations and the independent regulator, Ofqual, which is accountable to Parliament. Ofqual published its initial report on 2012 GCSE English awards on 31 August 2012, which is available at:

http://www.ofqual.gov.uk/files/2012-08-31-gcse-english-awards-2012-a-regulatory-report.pdf