Oxford College honours all offers regardless of A-level grades
Video report by ITV News Correspondent Libbey Wiener
An Oxford college will honour all places it offered to students after harsh criticism about how the government handed out A-level results.
There has been anger and dismay from schools, pupils, and parents after 40% of predicted grades A-level grades were downgraded from their predicted results on Thursday.
The fiasco has meant students often missed out on their university place because their grades were moderated down regardless despite them not sitting their exams.
Today Worcester College of Oxford University announced it would give places to every student they made an offer too, even if they didn't have the grades.
Laura Ashe, tutor for admissions at Worcester College Oxford told ITV: "We felt it was the morally right thing for us to do.
Laura Ashe, tutor for admissions at Worcester College Oxford, discussing their decision
"When we looked deeper looking at our figures we discovered students from underrepresented groups at Oxford were disproportionately affected by these generated exam grades.
"If we had followed those grades as a guide for what places to award we would have gone backwards in our goals of fair access."
In a statement, the college said: "Many members of our college community and beyond have expressed their concern for the potential impact of yesterday’s A Level results on this year’s incoming students.
"At Worcester, we made offers in 2020 to our most diverse cohort ever, and in response to the uncertainties surrounding this year’s assessment, we have confirmed the places of all our UK offer-holders, irrespective of their A level results."
The Government is coming under increasing pressure to review its moderation and appeals system, with pupils complaining they have been let down and evidence showing the system affected the poorest students the most.
The exam regulator Ofqual tried to defend the moderation system by saying some teachers submitted "implausibly high" results. But school leaders warned of a “great deal of volatility” in results at individual centres, with colleges in poorer areas receiving the most reductions in grades.
Scotland was forced into a U-turn and offered all pupils their predicted grades when its moderation process caused similar problems last week.