Students take to the streets to demand Williamson resigns

HUNDREDS of angry students marched in London yesterday to protest at the downgrading of their A-level results.

Around 300 pupils gathered in Westminster, with calls for Education Secretary Gavin Williamson to resign and universities to honour the course offers they had made.

It came as Chris McGovern, of Campaign for Real Education, urged that this year’s A-Level grades to be scrapped and replaced with teacher assessment certificates.

He said the mistake of “hastily” axing exams at the start of lockdown is being worsened by officials “attempting to pretend” this year’s A-Level and GCSE papers have been sat.

Former headteacher Mr McGovern says the Office for Qualifications and Examinations Regulation should now “show some honesty” to bring the crisis to an end.

He added: “Honesty is the best policy and instead of the shambles we have at the moment it is the only sensible way out of this predicament.

“For the children at least the certificates would have some form of credibility. Instead we have chaos which will impact on last year’s results and there will be hell next year as they attempt to dilute the exams because children have lost six month’s schooling. They have thrown everything into disarray.”

Mr McGovern, who has advised numerous Conservative and Labour administrations following a 30-year teaching career, also believes students should have been allowed to sit exams following lockdown.