Devastated pupils look to appeal results decision
PUPILS and parents have demanded action after A-level results left many students in limbo yesterday.
Leah Harris (18) from Ballymena was left devastated after being denied the chance to study her dream subject of children’s nursing at Queen’s University.
The Cambridge House Grammar School student was predicted grades of BBB but received much lower results of BCD which excluded her from her course.
Having already travelled to the Philippines to work with children, she now hopes to appeal her grades and is prepared to repeat her exams and gain further work experience if necessary.
Her mother Dyvonne Harris said her daughter’s school was now putting in a blanket appeal for around 100 pupils.
“There were teachers in tears yesterday as pupils came in for their results, it was very stressful and we’re in a very devastated place today,” she said.
“We’ve told her that no matter what she does we’re so incredibly proud of what she has achieved and will support her no matter what.
“I could have given her my kidneys yesterday the way I was feeling. You just want to support them for their mental health, the last thing you want your child to feel like is a failure. We’re worried she feels that way and it has been a very tough experience.”
Addressing the Education Minister Peter Weir and the exam board CCEA, she said: “The reality is that these are children, they’re not statistics.”
Mrs Harris said she was now worried that any appeals would not be completed in time for Leah to have a chance to study this year.
“We’ve been told they will take up to 42 days, but there’s around 18 days before Queen’s and Ulster University close their entrance so it might be too late.
“We’ve been told the places might be held till August 31 but that’s still just two weeks away.”
Both Queen’s and Ulster University have said this week they are willing to be “flexible” with students facing an appeals process for their grades.
Wallace High School student Esther Follis (19) from Hillsborough was predicted grades of ABB which would have guaranteed her first choice of studying law at Edinburgh University.
Instead she was given grades of BBC, meaning she won’t be admitted unless her grades change.
Currently looking to appeal, she also has a back-up offer to study politics at Dundee.
“To me I find that extremely confusing in how CCEA have the audacity to say my grades would have gone down when my teachers argued the complete opposite with the predicted grades,” she said.
“I just think the way CCEA are handling this is completely egotistical, with just a lack of empathy to admit that anything has gone wrong and I find that extremely offensive.”
She added: “Another thing that I find amusing is the website crashed on Thursday morning when everyone tried to access their results, the same technology they used to standardise our grades.”
The mother of an AS pupil in Foyle College in Derry, who preferred not to be named, said her son’s predicted grade of C in Health and Life Sciences was knocked down to a U, and he received lower marks than predicted in Geography (E) and Business Studies (C).
“My son had a difficult mock exam in December, so we didn’t expect to get a higher grade but were shocked that he failed it,” she said.
“How can you fail something you haven’t the opportunity to do? He wasn’t failing it before lockdown so I was really surprised.”
The family is now seeking to appeal the results, with the hope it can be improved to ease pressure for the student’s final school year.