Government U-turn over A Level and GCSE results
Watch a reporter by ITV News Anglia's Education Correspondent Elodie Harper
Tens of thousands of A-level students in England are set to see their grades increased after a humiliating U-turn by the Government.
Following five days of uproar, the Education Secretary has announced that grades will now be based on teachers' assessments unless those produced by the exam regulator are higher.
Earlier today, Labour's Shadow Education Secretary Kate Green MP spoke to ITV Anglia and called on the Prime Minister to "get off his holiday, and come and sort this out".
Students and teachers were also critical of the algorithm that had been used to give students their grades after exams were cancelled because of coronavirus restrictions. They said that it was unfair and claimed it benefitted students in private education and smaller classes. Nina Bunting-Mitcham, a student from Peterborough was just one of the many affected by the change in grading system. She had been predicted ABB, but was devastated after receiving three D grades, losing her place at a top veterinary school.She told ITV Anglia she felt on the verge of suicide after receiving the grades that destroyed her dream.Nina Bunting-Mitcham says how she felt when she saw her grades
Nina said that hearing the news of the U-turn made her feel "more relieved than she ever had in her life" and that she will continue to pursue her dream of attending Royal Veterinary College in London, but she says there was no excuse for what the government put her through and they should have adopted this new approach from the beginning.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Education Secretary Gavin Williamson had previously defended the “robust” and “dependable” system, which saw almost 40 per cent of grades reduced from teachers’ predictions.
Mr Johnson, who is on holiday in Scotland, held crisis talks with Mr Williamson and senior officials this morning after the backlash.The change will now also apply to GCSE results in England, which are due to be released on Thursday. However, Richard Harvey, Academic Director of Admissions at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, said that the government's U-turn did not mean that the ordeal was over.
Sarah Owen, Labour MP for Luton North welcomed the government's change of heart and said: “I know it’s often difficult for politicians to do so, but I’m glad that the government have been able to admit that they were wrong to downgrade thousands of A-level students in Luton and across the country.
“This has been an anxious couple of days for students and their families in Luton, and I think the government needs to offer a full apology for the stress caused. After days of stress in the clearing system, or having accepted insurance or alternative offers, we also urgently need further clarity of whether original offers from universities and further education institutions still stand."
“I said last week that I would back any student who needed my help 100 per cent after being downgraded and I have had dozens of worried, upset young people contact me. Even after this u-turn, that offer remains open if Tory bureaucracy still leaves anybody’s place at university or in further education in doubt through no fault of your own.”