Williamson apologises after major U-turn in England

A U-TURN by the Government will see tens of thousands of A-level students in England receive increased grades, with Education Secretary Gavin Williamson apologising for the distress caused by the debacle.

Following criticism from students and headteachers and complaints from dozens of Tory MPs, grades will now be based on teachers’ assessments rather than a controversial algorithm devised by regulator Ofqual.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Mr Williamson had previously defended the “robust” system, which saw almost 40% of grades reduced from teachers’ predictions.

The change will also apply to GCSE results in England, which are due to be released on Thursday.

Mr Williamson apologised for the handling of the process, which followed the cancellation of exams due to coronavirus.

Ofqual’s chairman Roger Taylor admitted the regulator had gone down the “wrong road”.

The algorithm was meant to moderate the process of awarding grades, preventing teachers awarding what the exams watchdog described as “implausibly high” marks to pupils.

But it came under fire over its perceived unfairness and the way it particularly appeared to penalise bright children from disadvantaged schools.

Mr Williamson accepted it had produced more “significant inconsistencies” than could be rectified through an appeals process.

Mr Johnson, who is on holiday in Scotland, held crisis talks with Mr Williamson and senior officials on Monday morning to discuss the policy shift.

Students who were awarded a higher grade by the moderation process will be allowed to keep it, but for many pupils the shift to teachers’ predictions will see their grades improve.

Mr Williamson said: “This has been an extraordinarily difficult year for young people who were unable to take their exams.

“We worked with Ofqual to construct the fairest possible model, but it is clear that the process of allocating grades has resulted in more significant inconsistencies than can be resolved through an appeals process.

“We now believe it is better to offer young people and parents certainty by moving to teacherassessed grades for both A and AS-level and GCSE results.

“I am sorry for the distress this has caused young people and their parents.”