YOU DUNCES!
Exam grades in chaos. Teachers in despair. Appeals set for meltdown. And what’s the Education Secretary got to say to students getting results today? Er, sorry
EDUCATION Secretary Gavin Williamson issued a humiliating apology to millions of pupils last night – as fears grew of chaos in the A- level appeals process. a quarter of a million sixth-formers will get their results this morning after an 11th-hour change to the way grades are awarded.
In an attempt to head off a rebellion like that seen in Scotland, a-level entrants have been given the option of choosing the results of their mock exams if they are not happy with the grade they are given.
But this has sparked warnings the appeals system will be overwhelmed by huge numbers of pupils asking to change their grades amid reports 40 per cent will be downgraded by a computer algorithm which takes into account their schools’ previous results.
The predicted delays threaten to throw the university admissions process into paralysis with just weeks to go until the start of the new term.
Mr Williamson told pupils he regretted the ‘disruption’ caused by coronavirus on their education. But as he deals with the fallout from the crisis, Boris Johnson will spend exams day in northern Ireland extolling the virtues of the Union.
labour leader Keir Starmer blasted the Prime Minister yesterday. he said: ‘responsibility for the exam fiasco lies squarely with Boris Johnson. Johnson should be meeting students today, apologising to them for this farce and
the fact he risks robbing them of their future. This is a complete fiasco.
‘It was obvious that this was going to be difficult but it’s been weeks or months in the coming.
‘To have an 11th-hour decision that’s caused widespread chaos among teachers I have been speaking to, families and young people, it smacks of incompetence.’
Under the system introduced when this year’s exams were cancelled due to Covid, pupils’ marks will be based on their teachers’ estimates of what they would have achieved.
But exam boards are expected to lower many A-level grades by computer to prevent grade inflation. Head teachers said last night they were ‘staggered’ by the sheer scale of the downgrades.
Following the shambles in Scotland, late on Tuesday ministers rushed in a revised system for England to allow more appeals.
But it emerged yesterday that the new system is not ready, with exams regulator Ofqual saying it will not be able to lay out the appeals process until next week.
It is feared the change will result in almost every school trying to mount an appeal, piling huge pressure on the system. And with the deadline for students to meet their university’s offer conditions just over three weeks away, it means many appeals may not be completed in time.
University leaders held urgent talks yesterday with an education minister to seek clarity on the new rules. Mr Williamson offered an apology to ‘every single child right across the country for the disruption that they’ve had to suffer’, but maintained the ‘overwhelming majority’ would receive grades that were ‘credible’ and ‘strong’.
But heads, who received their pupils’ grades yesterday, complained of an unexpected ‘dip’ in results, with one saying: ‘I am staggered by how much our students have been downgraded.’
Another said: ‘What they have done to our A-level results is a total joke and has penalised the majority of our students, some being given three or four grades lower than well-moderated teacher assessment grades. It’s totally criminal.’
Suzie Longstaff, the head of Putney High
School in south-west London, said: ‘I think every school will be appealing. Can you imagine the pressure on the exam boards?’
Professor Julia Buckingham, of Universities UK, urged students not to panic if they miss out on their offer. She added: ‘This last-minute policy change presents a number of challenges and we are seeking urgent clarification from the Department for Education on a range of issues including the likely scale and timing of appeals.’
A spokesman for the Russell Group, which represents Britain’s elite universities, urged the Government to ‘ensure appeals are processed as quickly as possible to prevent further uncertainty for students and the sector’. Geoff Barton, leader of the Association of School and College Leaders,
accused the Government of a ‘panicked and chaotic response’.
Some senior Tory politicians also expressed surprise at the last-minute change. Former education secretary Kenneth Clarke said: ‘There is no perfect methodology, although it is a pity they did not do this earlier.’
The Joint Council for Qualifications, which represents the major exam boards, said they were ‘ urgently reviewing’ the announcement. They have not provided any guarantees that appeals will be determined before university terms start.
Alan Brookes, chairman of the Kent Association of Headteachers and the executive head of Fulston Manor school in Sittingbourne, described the situation as a ‘rolling disaster’.
He said: ‘Tomorrow, I fear there will be a lot of students going, “I didn’t deserve that. That’s not fair.” I think they will feel awful.’