Milton Keynes College guarantees offer to GCSE students regardless of results
All GCSE students who have applied to Milton Keynes college and have been given an offer, are being guaranteed a place, whatever their results.
Pupils will be awarded grades predicted by their teachers, rather than via an algorithm, after a major government U-turn on how grades are calculated.
The college says everyone who has already applied and been made an offer will be given a place as it's "vital young people and their parents are supported."
“We know people are frantic with worry about their futures. It’s a great relief for everyone that the grading situation has improved but a lot of potential students are obviously worried about what the next step for them will be", College Group Principal and CEO, Dr Julie Mills OBE said.
"With the disease still disrupting our daily lives and a significant recession just beginning we wanted to calm the fears of as many people as we could. Everyone who’s already applied to study with us after their GCSEs is now guaranteed a place. Not everyone will necessarily be on their course at the level they originally applied for but they will be eligible for education or training to start them off on the road towards the career they want and deserve.
"What I can assure everyone is that decisions will be based on individual cases and not by results on a page.”
"Put simply, they deserve a break and we want to give them one. We believe every sixteen year old deserves hope for their futures. “We are part of the community of Milton Keynes and that community needs our help. That’s why we’re doing this.”
Thousand of students across the East will be getting their results on Thursday, a week on from A-level results.
Gavin Williamson apologised to students after reversing how A-levels and GCSEs are graded, following heavy criticism.Geoff Barton, a former headteacher in Bury St Edmunds and now with the Association of School and College Leaders, is calling on the Education Secretary for an urgent review into what's been described as a "grading fiasco."“There is an urgent need for the Department for Education to commission an immediate independent review which will rapidly establish exactly what went wrong with the process for awarding grades to A-level and GCSE students this summer, and to publish its findings and recommendations", Mr Barton said.
“This degree of transparency is necessary at a time when public confidence has been badly shaken.
"“The government and Ofqual should be putting in place a robust contingency plan, drawing on the lessons from this summer’s debacle.”