Thousands of GCSES downgraded two weeks before results came out

THOUSANDS of GCSE pupils had their English results downgraded only two weeks before they were due to be published, it emerged last night.

They went from a C to a D after a lastminute request from exam regulator Ofqual on August 7 to board Edexcel.

Ofqual had intervened just a fortnight before the publication of this summer’s results, to curtail grade inflation.

Around 24,000 students sat the paper and it is estimated that between 15 to 20 per cent of those – nearly 5,000 pupils – were on the crucial C/D boundary and may have been affected by the belated decision to raise the standard required for a C grade.

The revelation will pile more pressure on Education Secretary Michael Gove –

‘Move the boundaries further than normal’

accused of washing his hands of ‘all responsibility’ in the grading row.

Meanwhile teachers called for Ofqual’s chief regulator, Glenys Stacey, who appears before the Commons’ education select committee today, to quit.

The English grading row erupted on August 23, as furious teachers claimed thousands taking exams with various boards had unfairly missed out on Cs.

Ofqual had found that English GCSEs set in January – taken by more than 58,000 pupils – were ‘graded generously’.

Now letters between Ofqual and exam board Edexcel, seen by the Times Educational Supplement, reveal summer grading decisions were overruled at the 11th hour.

Ofqual’s director of standards, Dennis Opposs, wrote to Edexcel on August 7, concerned that the board was about to award results for GCSE English that would see the proportion of pupils with grade Cs rise eight percentage points above the statistical prediction.

He called on the board to act ‘quickly’ and ‘ produce outcomes that are much closer to the predictions’. He said: ‘This may require you to move grade boundary marks further than might normally be required.’

Edexcel replied the following day, stating that it had considered the issues raised by Ofqual but still felt its proposed grades were ‘fair’.

However, the letter added that if Ofqual still required a change, the board could move the minimum requirement for a C grade in one of the GCSE English units up to 65 marks out of 96 – up ten from January’s 55-mark grade boundary.

In Ofqual’s August 9 reply, Mr Opposs stated that the board was obliged to ensure its results were consistent with others that were close enough to predictions.

The letter also suggested the 65mark boundary would actually be tougher than required. But Edexcel’s website shows that, in the end, it was adopted.

Questions will now be raised about whether Ofqual also intervened with other boards’ results.

The TES is publishing the full letters online today.

John Townsley, a former Ofqual board member and a head who believes his pupils’ English GCSEs were unfairly graded, accused Ofqual of ‘bullying’ exam boards.

The executive principal of the Morley and Farnley academies, in Leeds, said: ‘The content of these letters is startling and makes absolutely clear that Ofqual itself has been at the centre of this disgraceful episode.

‘Glenys Stacey’s position is untenable and she should resign with immediate effect.’ An Ofqual spokesman said its correspondence with Edexcel was ‘entirely proper’ and the board ‘made the final decision’.

An Edexcel spokesman said: ‘Our final award, which we believe was fair to all learners, followed specific requests from Ofqual to help them [maintain standards].’

The row intensified last night when it emerged hundreds of pupils in Wales – which holds devolved education powers – are expected to receive higher GCSE English grades after the education minister demanded their papers were regraded by board WJEC.

Leighton Andrews said Welsh pupils had been victims of an ‘injustice’. Ministers in England have refused to intervene.