My daughter is one of many students whose education has been severely disrupted due to the presence of RAAC or asbestos in their school.

A staggering 70% of the buildings were closed at her school at the start of September 2023, which forced students to study at home until makeshift Portacabin classrooms were finally installed at the end of December 2023. While this solution is preferable to studying alone at home, it denies students access to essential resources such as science labs or food tech facilities - which are crucial for GCSE and A Level coursework.

The impact on my daughter's education and that of her peers is undeniable. Yet despite this ongoing disruption in her school and many others across the UK, the Government refuses to offer any grade uplift for those taking their GCSE exams in 2024 or 2025. This lack of support not only undermines the efforts these pupils are making under difficult circumstances but also threatens their future prospects. These students will be competing for 6th form, college and university places against pupils who have had no disruption to their learning.

A study conducted by professors at Durham University stated that examination boards must take ‘lost learning’ into account and that pupils affected should get up to a 10% boost to their exam marks, the Department for Education has stated “It is not possible to make changes to exams and assessments for only some groups of students to address the impact of variable disruption to teaching.”

We urge you to acknowledge the challenges faced by our children through no fault of their own. We call upon you, our elected officials, educators and policy makers, to grant a fair adjustment - a 10% exam boost - for all pupils who continue having their education disrupted due to RAAC and asbestos in schools.

Please sign this petition if you believe in equal opportunities for all our children regardless of circumstances beyond their control.