A-LEVELS: THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY
GAVIN Williamson was facing angry demands from school and college leaders last night for a review of this summer’s A-levels after nearly 40 per cent of students saw their grades reduced.
The Education Secretary was confronted by fury from critics and heartbreak from pupils and parents as 280,000 grades were lowered from teachers’ predictions.
But he vowed not to follow the Scottish Government in performing a full retreat to hike results.
Amid the growing outcry yesterday, he said: “We’re not going to be changing this system again.”
He also promised a “late clearing service” for allocating university places to students whose results fell short.
The Education Secretary said: “Universities are looking at being as flexible as possible.The majority of young people will have received a calculated grade today that enables them to progress to the destination they deserve.”
Robust
One ally of the Education Secretary said: “In any normal year, 75 per cent of students don’t get their predicted grades.We have tweaked the system and ensured there are several routes for appeal, both for schools and colleges and for individual students.”
Boris Johnson yesterday backed Mr Williamson and insisted the exam system was “robust”.
Speaking during a visit to Northern Ireland, the Prime Minister said: “Obviously it was going to be very difficult in the absence of formal proper exams this year of the kind we normally have. Because of the virus we’ve had to put in the system we have.
“I do think it’s robust and a couple of things I think are very important.
“First of all, more students than ever before are able to go to their university of choice, to do the course of their choice.
“And on the point about kids, pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, more than ever before are now able to go to university, are going to university this year as a result of the grades they’ve got today.”
Asked if he has confidence in Mr Williamson, he said: “Of course I do, but I think this is a robust system and it’s one that is dependable for employers.”
Ministers rushed out a revised system earlier this week ahead as yesterday’s publication of results.
A “triple lock” mechanism allows students to accept their calculated grade, apply to use their mock exam grades instead or sit the exams this autumn.
Despite the late changes to the system, education chiefs are braced for a rush of appeals.
Data from the exam watchdog Ofqual yesterday showed 39.1 per cent of A-level results in England were downgraded.
A total of 35.6 per cent of grades were adjusted down by one grade,
3.3 per cent were brought down by two and 0.2 per cent came down by three, the figures showed.
Grades still rose to a record high, however, even after the moderation under the one-off system.
Further education college leaders complained that their sector had been particularly hard hit by results downgrading.
In the outcry from education leaders yesterday, the Association of Colleges wrote to MrWilliamson to demand an urgent review of the system.
David Hughes, chief executive of the association, said he has heard from a number of colleges that more than 50 per cent of their grades have been adjusted downwards. He said: “We are deeply concerned that the adjustment process may have disadvantaged larger centres such as colleges and those with historically strong value-added data.”
The letter to the Government and Ofqual says: “A technical review now could examine that and would avert hundreds of colleges from having to make individual appeals. It would show that you are being transparent and taking the concerns seriously.
“We cannot stand by when the evidence suggests that many thousands of students may have missed out on their grades because of a systemic bias.”
Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and College Union, said: “The Government needs to accept it has got this badly wrong, stop trying to pull a rabbit out of the hat and keep things simple by using teacher predictions.”