Response to the Government’s white paper, Every Child Achieving and Thriving

AQA CEO Colin Hughes said: "The Government's white paper, Every Child Achieving and Thriving, quite rightly sets out an ambitious plan for all children, including those students with special educational needs, to reach their potential in the next decade and beyond.

"It recognises that good grades are the stepping stone to progress and that all children should experience a curriculum that is knowledge-rich, broad, inclusive and innovative. That's why it's good to see a long-term ambition for young people, on average, to reach a grade 5 or higher across their GCSEs.

"To help meet this target, we will have to work hard to implement curriculum and assessment reform. AQA, as the most popular exam board for GCSEs and A-levels, is laser-focused on getting that right."

As the white paper says, children in Reception today will go out into a world shaped by artificial intelligence and technology. The white paper commits to realising the opportunities they have to offer. Assessment should better reflect the world that young people are growing up in - that's just one reason why exam boards like AQA should roll-out digital exams and why schools should embed digital literacy.

AQA will say more about this in coming weeks and months.

Colin added: "It's thanks to the objective evidence provided by exam grades that policymakers are able to make informed decisions about where to offer targeted support.”

Fulfilling the Government's white paper ambitions and reducing the disadvantage gap will require a highly-skilled and supported teaching workforce. This is something which is underway as part of our work guiding teachers through the Curriculum and Assessment Review and AQA will continue to support teachers with support including our Curriculum Connect Sessions and Inside Assessment programmes.