Miss Anne McIntosh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Miss Anne McIntosh on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent representations he has received on the 50 per cent rule whereby a GCSE grade may only be awarded for course assessment in the event of a student being severely incapacitated through illness; and if he will make a statement.

Elizabeth Truss

The Secretary of State for Education recently received a letter from the hon Member for Thirsk and Malton on this issue, raising the case of a student in her constituency, to which he has responded. From time to time Ministers receive representations from members of the public, and from hon Members on their behalf, on the same matter.

Neither the Department nor the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation holds information on the number of pupils who have applied to be assessed for a GCSE grade on the basis of coursework. This information may be held by individual awarding bodies.

The rules governing the circumstances in which a GCSE grade may be awarded to a student who has not completed all the elements of the assessment are a matter for the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have therefore asked its Chief Regulator, Glenys Stacey to write directly to the hon Member. A copy of her reply will be placed in the House of Commons Library.