§ Mr. RosindellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the readiness of the examination boards for this summer's examinations. [169952]
§ Mr. MilibandIn 2003, the summer examinations ran smoothly, and students received their results on time. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, as regulator, is in close contact with the examination awarding bodies to achieve the same outcomes in summer 2004.
Last November the Secretary of State announced that £100 million would be available over the next two years to help modernise the examination system and ensure its safe delivery. I am glad to say that investment is already delivering improvements. More examiners are being recruited, and training is being provided for examination officers in schools and colleges. Further investment is planned to improve the system for transfer of examination information between schools; colleges and awarding bodies, and streamlining and making more secure the movement of examination papers and scripts. We look forward to close co-operation between the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and examination awarding bodies to ensure our investment creates an examinations system which fully meets the needs of students, both this year and in the future.