Petition · past parliament

Cancel GCSE and A-Level exams for this years year 11 and year 13

Rejected 12 signatures

What the petition asks

Cancel the exams for the A Level and GCSE takers this year, help stop the stress. How is it that after 3 lockdowns were still being made to take exams?
Myself and many others that i know who are going through the same situation believe it's unfair that last years students didn't have to sit their exams after only having 2-3 months off of school. We've been homeschooled for nearly 6 months now and been through nearly 3 local and national lockdowns. We're going to be competing for University placements and college placements with students in Wales and Scotland who haven't had exams, which sets us back. It has caused more stress than needed.

Why it was rejected

The UK Government or Parliament was already taking the action it asked for.

Since you started your petition the Prime Minister has stated that it is not possible or fair for all exams to go ahead this summer as normal: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/prime-ministers-address-to-the-nation-4-january-2021

The Education Secretary has subsequently said that this year the Government will "put our trust in teachers rather than algorithms": https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2021-01-06/debates/D2A64DD9-6A6B-4EAB-8001-C3BACDE25B02/Covid-19EducationalSettings

We have published the following petitions, which you might like to sign:

Cancel GCSEs and A Levels in 2021: Cancel GCSEs and A Levels in 2021

Cancel GCSE and A-levels in 2021 replace with Course Work and Teacher Assessment: Cancel GCSE and A-levels in 2021 replace with Course Work and Teacher Assessment

Timeline

4 Jan 2021 Petition opened for signatures
8 Jan 2021 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 12
Status Rejected
Rejected 8 Jan 2021

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.