Kirsty Williams AM, Minister for Education
This was published under the 2016 to 2021 administration of the Welsh Government
I am pleased to confirm that the 2020 Wales results day for AS and A level students, and for GCSE students, will be as originally scheduled. This means that Wales, Northern Ireland and England will share the results days of 13 August for AS & A Level and 20th August for GCSE.
As I set out in my letter to the Education Secretary for England on 31 March, during these uncertain times, providing clarity and ensuring that learners are not disadvantaged in accessing their university places by a divergence in results dates have been key priorities for me. I am pleased this will now be the case.
Sticking to the existing results dates has been the intention in Wales, supported by the advice of our independent exam regulator Qualifications Wales. Proposals in England to move to a much earlier results day introduced an unnecessary risk, and I had expressed my concerns to counterparts in the UK government, as had the education sector here in Wales and UCAS.
I therefore welcome today’s announcement for England. Education ministers from across all governments in the UK have worked well together during these challenging times, but on this occasion I regret that we were unable to make a joint announcement. GCSEs and A Levels are shared and owned across three countries within the UK. Making a joint announcement would have helped provide much needed assurance and certainty for all of our learners, their parents and practitioners at this difficult time.
I hope that now confirmation of results day has been provided our learners are able to make future plans with a little more confidence, although I recognise this continues to be a time of great uncertainty.