The government should cancel this year’s GCSE and A-level exams and hold them in 2021, with pupils repeating the current year if the Covid-19 outbreak leads to widespread disruption, the head of England’s most successful multi-academy trust has told the Guardian.

Hamid Patel, the chief executive of Star Academies which runs a string of outstanding state schools in London, Birmingham, Manchester and other cities, says the government should “do the unthinkable” and postpone this summer’s exams immediately, along with Sats tests to be taken by England’s primary school pupils, to save lives during the peak infection period of May to June.

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That may mean requiring this year’s pupils to effectively start again in the next academic year in September, sitting their exams in spring 2021, Patel said.

“Cancellation is the only sensible and humane option. It will go a long way to ensure the success of the ‘delay’ phase of the government’s strategy. It could save tens of thousands of lives because it will ensure good decision-making, and good decision-making by individuals is central to how we manage this crisis,” Patel said in a commentary published by the Guardian.

“Imagine the scene if examinations were to proceed as normal. Would infected students arrive to sit the examinations that they have prepared so hard for? Would infected invigilators supervise them? Would all students be required to have their temperature checked before entering the exam hall, or would they simply be allowed to cross-infect their peers?”

The Department for Education (DfE) is to hold a meeting with key school leaders and teaching unions on Monday, to brief them on the latest developments and explain the government’s strategy, including its views on closing schools and when or how to hold exams.

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A number of policy options are being discussed within No 10 and the DfE, such as closing schools except for the year 11 and year 13 cohorts taking GCSEs and A-levels or BTecs respectively and then closing in June, as well as how to provide childcare for parents working in frontline services such as the NHS, pharmacies, the police and firefighters.

Northern Ireland’s first minister, Arlene Foster, who has attended the Cobra meetings at Downing Street, admitted over the weekend that UK schools could be closed for 16 weeks, effectively ending the school year.

Lawyers in Northern Ireland acting for the mother of a child who has severe asthma and attends a primary school in County Armagh are planning to launch an urgent judicial review of the Stormont government’s decision not to close schools.

Darragh Mackin, a solicitor at Phoenix Law, said the girl is at a greater risk of harm should she contract the coronavirus. He added: “It is clear that the respective public bodies have each failed in their respective obligations to our client, and indeed all children, by continuing to require their attendance at school in circumstances in which they would be at an increased risk of contracting the condition.”

He added: “The wider international community has spoken. Their advice can not and should not be ignored. It is a deplorable situation when a mother has to initiate urgent legal proceedings to ensure that her child, and indeed children across the jurisdiction, are afforded the necessary protections and safeguards required under law.”

If repeating the whole school year is not practical, Patel argues that the exams should still be cancelled, saying it would undermine the assessment system otherwise. Instead, for sixth formers, “colleges and universities could offer students places unconditionally based on their predicted grades from schools,” he said.

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Patel has been a founder and chief executive of Star Academies since its earliest days, having been headteacher of the highly academically successful Tauheedul Islam girls’ high school in Blackburn, which regularly tops the DfE’s national performance tables for progress in GCSE and A-level exams.

Under Patel the multi-academy trust has expanded rapidly, and now runs 29 faith and secular schools, in cities including Blackpool and Coventry. In 2019 Star-run schools took the top three places for highest progress in GCSE results among all schools in England.

Many of Star’s schools are in disadvantaged areas, with a high percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals. “It goes without saying that the most vulnerable in our communities will be hardest hit by the current crisis,” Patel said. “Coronavirus will not be restricted to those who are socially disadvantaged but it is likely to impact on them most severely.”