A Level and GCSE exams will be officially delayed next year.
The exams in England will be delayed by three weeks in 2021 because of the pandemic, with Education Secretary Gavin Williamson confirming the news this afternoon.
The summer exam series will start on 7 June and end on 2 July for almost all A levels and GCSEs.
One maths and one English GCSE exam will be held just before the May half-term, giving any Year 11 pupils who are affected by Covid-19 the best possible chance of still sitting a paper in each of these core subjects.
Results days are Tuesday 24 August for A levels and Friday 27 August for GCSEs so students will start the following academic year as normal.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said: "Fairness to pupils is my priority, and will continue to be at the forefront of every decision we take in the lead up to exams next summer.
"Exams are the fairest way of judging a student’s performance so they will go ahead, underpinned by contingency measures developed in partnership with the sector.
"Students have experienced considerable disruption and it’s right we give them, and their teachers, the certainty that exams will go ahead and more time to prepare.
"Combined with our £1 billion catch-up programme and the changes proposed by Ofqual to free up teaching time, the changes I am announcing today give young people the best chance of being ready for their exams without undermining the value of the qualifications they receive.
"I will continue to work closely with stakeholders and I’m grateful for the commitment and willingness that’s been shown in delivering this additional time to ensure young people have the best opportunity to succeed."
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The Education Secretary has today written to Ofqual to ask the regulator to work closely with him, school and further education leaders, exam boards, unions and the higher education sector to develop these arrangements.
The Government will engage widely with the sector over the next six weeks to identify any risks to exams at a national, local, and individual student level, and consider measures needed to address any potential disruption.
This could be a student unable to sit exams due to illness or self-isolation, or schools affected by a local outbreak during the examination season meaning centres cannot open.
More detail will be published later in the Autumn, to ensure students have confidence that they will be fairly treated in terms of assessment in 2021.
