Cancel GCSEs and A Levels in 2021
The Parliament petitions site records 211,974 signatures for this petition, which closed on 19 February 2021. The Government responded on 20 October 2020. MPs debated it in Westminster Hall on 7 December 2020.
The petition
The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.
Cancel GCSEs and A Levels in 2021
The Government should cancel GCSEs and A Levels in 2021 due to the disruption of Covid-19. By the time students go back to normal learning, 6 months will have passed since schools were closed to most pupils. This has already had a huge impact on the studying of so many.
Students in the UK have already missed hundreds of hours of learning since 23rd March. This has had a huge effect. Some pupils don’t have the essential resources: a working computer, textbooks, stationary, etc. Many don’t have a proper learning environment, therefore results will most certainly not reflect the true efforts of pupils. Hence why I am writing to the Government to cancel GCSEs and A Levels and provide predicted grades to show the true reflections of students across the country.
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 20 October 2020; the petitions site lists the Department for Education as responsible. Its summary:
The Government is committed to GCSE, AS and A level exams taking place next year. We continue to believe that exams are the best and fairest way of judging students’ performance.
The opening 369 words of the 813-word response:
We recognise that Year 11 and 13 students due to take exams in 2021, and their parents, carers and teachers, are concerned about the disruption to education caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. The government is determined to do everything possible to ensure that no student is prevented from fulfilling their potential due to the pandemic.
We continue to believe that exams are the best and fairest way of judging students’ performance and the Government is committed to GCSE, AS and A level exams taking place next year. The Department has been working closely with Ofqual, the exam boards and groups representing teachers, schools, colleges and students, to consider our approach to exams and other assessments for 2021.
In July, Ofqual ran a consultation on a range of possible measures, with the overriding aim of ensuring that exams and assessments are as fair as possible. Ofqual published its decisions (https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/proposed-changes-to-the-assessment-of-gcses-as-and-a-levels-in-2021) on the proposed changes on 3 August. These decisions include adaptations in a number of subjects, for example, removing the requirement to record the spoken language assessment in GCSE English language, and allowing GCSE students to observe, rather than undertake, practical science work. In some subjects with a high volume of content - GCSE history, ancient history and English literature – Ofqual confirmed that exam boards should change how they assess students next year by allowing a choice of topics in the exams. For GCSE, AS and A level geography, there are changes to the requirements relating to fieldwork, both to free up teaching time and to take account of the fact that public health restrictions may make it difficult for students to fulfil the requirements next year. A full list of all subject-level adaptations to exams and assessments in 2021 can be found at Appendix A in Ofqual’s decisions document (https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/proposed-changes-to-the-assessment-of-gcses-as-and-a-levels-in-2021). On 12 October, the Government confirmed that no further subject-level changes to exams and assessments will be made for GCSEs, AS and A levels. This confirmation gives teachers, school leaders and pupils clarity on what will be assessed in exams next summer. The government also announced the decision to delay most GCSE, AS and A level exams next year by 3 weeks to free up additional teaching time.
Read the full response on the petitions site.
Where the signatures came from
Signatures came from 650 constituencies on the boundaries used until the 2024 general election. The largest number, 835, came from Tynemouth.
210,752 of the signatures were from the UK and 1,222 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.
| Constituency | Signatures |
|---|---|
| Tynemouth | 835 |
| Ribble Valley | 789 |
| Makerfield | 732 |
| Chorley | 731 |
| Halton | 720 |
| North Tyneside | 714 |
| Blyth Valley | 704 |
| South Ribble | 687 |
| Horsham | 669 |
| South Antrim | 665 |
| Region | Signatures |
|---|---|
| North West | 32,358 |
| South East | 31,981 |
| London | 26,314 |
| East of England | 21,274 |
| West Midlands | 18,081 |
| South West | 17,843 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 16,268 |
| East Midlands | 14,457 |
| North East | 11,892 |
| Northern Ireland | 7,626 |
| Wales | 6,569 |
| Scotland | 549 |
Debate in Parliament
MPs debated the petition in Westminster Hall on 7 December 2020. Read the debate in Hansard. House of Commons Library debate pack.
Source and receipt
- https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/326066.jsonUK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
13ceb66ae5e99b4a… - The petition on petition.parliament.uk
The petition's words are its creator's and the response is the Government's; this site quotes both and gives no view on either. Signature counts can still change while a petition is open. To report an error, send a correction request.