Two Canterbury students who are leading a campaign to have GCSE and A-levels exams cancelled for 2021 are delighted to have secured the support of their MP Rosie Duffield.

The boys, pupils at Simon Langton Grammar School, wrote a letter to Ms Duffield urging her to come out publicly against the exams going ahead.

Jack Newbury, 17, and Joshua Matheson, 18, said that with Covid having already caused so much disruption to lessons for children across the country, it would be grossly unfair to allow the exams to go ahead.

They pointed out that with the majority of lessons being online, students with poor internet connection, or no quiet place to study at home, would be disadvantaged.

They said: "The results will tell us far more about the unequal impact of Covid-19 than about our individual academic ability."

Their letter was endorsed by more than 400 other Whitstable and Canterbury students due to sit their exams this year.

Jack said students were being placed under intolerable mental stress, not only with the anxiety that many were feeling as a result of social isolation and worry about the virus, but also stressing about the prospect of taking exams for which they knew they were totally unprepared.

The boys posted their letter to Ms Duffield yesterday, but in fact, even before she had received it, the MP had read of the boy's concerns on Kent Online and had already Tweeted her support.

She said: "Great to see these Canterbury students campaigning so passionately, on this.

"I agree with them that the Tory government has got this wrong and I'll be forwarding this (petition) to Gavin Williamson (the Secretary of State for Education) on their behalf."

Joshua said: "It's fantastic that she has responded so quickly and is supporting us."

The boys' concerns are echoed by campaign group Worthless?, a group of more than 2,000 head teachers who say pupils, parents and teachers should not be put at risk of contracting Covid for the sake of protecting exam timetables.

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