To ask the Minister of Education (i) to detail how the mental wellbeing of students taking GCSE, AS level and A level examinations will be ensured during the forthcoming exam period; (ii) whether he will commit to prioritising students’ mental health in any new exams procedure that is introduced for this school year; and (iii) how he will ensure the process for determining the assessment procedures is open, fair and transparent.

Through the Education Restart Wellbeing Project a range of measures are being delivered in direct response to the Covid-19 pandemic to support the mental health and wellbeing of students including:-

An Education Authority (EA) online portal of resources available to schools with information on supporting learners, leaders and staff.

A range of information and materials are available on the EA website to support educational settings, young people and parents/carers with emotional health and wellbeing.

The EA Youth Service have developed an online resource called ‘youth online’ available at www.youthonline.org.uk where children and young people can access information, advice and support directly from Youth Service staff. The Independent Counselling Service for Schools (ICSS) for post primary aged pupils in mainstream Post Primary and Special Schools is available for young people to access through school and self-referral.

The Education Welfare Service and Education Psychology Service are also working directly with all schools to support the wellbeing of young people and access services as required in accordance with presenting need.

The £5m Education Restart Wellbeing Project funding has been approved, was launched on 10 November 2020 at St Columbanus College and will be allocated directly to schools very soon. By receiving their own allocation, schools will benefit from having the flexibility to use the money to provide health and wellbeing support for their pupils and/or staff.

With regard to the fairness of assessment procedures, my announcements of 9 October and 6 November indicate a reduction of assessment burden for young people to take account of lost face to face teaching time and ongoing disruption. This will ensure the validity, rigour and portability of qualifications, particularly for progression to university and other tertiary education providers as well as for future employment.