Ministers must urgently put in place a plan for next year’s GCSEs, Labour has urged, as analysis suggests Year 10s have missed one in eight days of face-to-face teaching.

Shadow schools minister Wes Streeting has called for the government to guarantee that there will be a “level playing field” for pupils who have missed the most learning because of the coronavirus pandemic.

He will use a Westminster Hall debate tonight to urge ministers not to repeat mistakes made this year.

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Mr Streeting will state: “Uncertainty is piling on the pressure facing pupils and their teachers. The longer ministers dither and delay, the harder it will be to make meaningful adjustments for exams to go ahead in a way that is fair to all pupils. Ministers need to learn from their mistakes and act sooner, rather than later.”

He will urge ministers to work with exam boards and the education sector urgently to deliver an exams system that is genuinely fair for all pupils next summer, including possible adjustments to exam papers, guidance to schools and colleges, and revision aids helping to level the playing field for the pupils who have missed most learning. 

Attendance data: one in eight days missed

Labour says its own analysis of Department for Education attendance data shows that one in eight days of GCSE teaching have been missed this academic year.

Mr Streeting said: “The government’s poor planning and preparation has created a second year of exam chaos.

“Ministers urgently need to set out plans for next year giving teachers and pupils time to prepare and adjust their teaching.

“Exams remain the fairest and most robust way to assess pupils, but ministers must guarantee a level playing field for pupils who have missed most learning this year.”

Earlier this month, the interim chief regulator of Ofqual Simon Lebus suggested that students taking A-level and GCSE exams next year could see their assessments adapted to compensate for learning loss.

He added that the process of recovering lost learning during the pandemic was “going to take several years” and told MPs that students taking A-level assessments in 2022 “will not have sat public exams before”.

His comments came after the government confirmed last month that teachers in England will decide pupils’ A-level and GCSE grades this summer after exams were cancelled for the second year in a row.