Robbie Butler calls on Education Minister to put examination alternative in place for 2021

Responding to news that Wales is to cancel GCSE, AS and A-Level exams in 2021, UUP Education spokesperson, Robbie Butler MLA said:

“The news today from the Welsh Education Minister Kirsty Williams that GCSE, AS and A Level exams in Wales will be cancelled in 2021 follows the announcement earlier this month from her Scottish counterpart that their equivalent for GCSEs would be replaced.

“The intervention locally with the Commissioner for Children and Young People, Koulla Yiasouma and our Mental Health Champion Siobhan O’Neill both calling for a cancellation and alternative process adds serious weight to the growing calls on Peter Weir to put the wellbeing of our students first and develop robust provisions that don’t echo the disastrous iteration of the algorithm for the 2020 cohort.

“I urge Minister Weir to, as a matter of priority, detail an appropriate scheme that will recognise the lost classroom time due to COVID19, protect the value of the hard work undertaken by our students, copper fasten the wellbeing of this cohort of students and finally, ensure that the examination award is robust and holds its value with Universities and schools across these Islands.

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