Boris Johnson urged to take charge in growing A-levels ‘fiasco’

Alevels

Boris Johnson is facing calls to take charge of the growing A-levels “fiasco” in the UK amid mounting anger among students, teachers and MPs.

There was disbelief at Westminster after guidance on students in England seeking to appeal against their grades being marked down was suddenly withdrawn without explanation.

One senior Conservative MP said the situation was a “huge mess” while Labour said it was up to the Prime Minister to “get a grip” and sort out the situation.

Meanwhile, some students were resorting to legal action in an attempt to get their downgrades reversed through the courts.

The exams regulator Ofqual issued guidance on Saturday setting out the criteria for students to make appeals on the basis of their mock exam results, only for it to be take down hours later.

In a brief statement, Ofqual said the policy was “being reviewed” by its board and that further information would be released “in due course”.

That is a huge mess. Goodness knows what is going on at Ofqual. It is the last thing we need at this time

Robert Halfon MP

The Department for Education declined to comment.

Conservative MP Robert Halfon, who chairs the Commons Education Committee, said the regulator’s actions were “unacceptable”.

“That is a huge mess. Goodness knows what is going on at Ofqual. It is the last thing we need at this time. This is just unacceptable in my view,” he told BBC News.

“Students and teachers are incredibly anxious – particularly the students who are worried about their future. This has got to be sorted out.

“Ofqual shouldn’t put things on websites, take them away, sow confusion. This is just not on and it has got to be changed.”

The suspension of the Ofqual guidance followed claims by Labour that assurances given to students about the appeals process by Education Secretary Gavin Williamson were “unravelling”.

Mr Williamson last week gave a “triple-lock” commitment that students could use the highest result out of their teacher’s predicted grade, their mock exam or sitting an actual exam in the autumn.

Labour says assurances given by Education Secretary Gavin Williamson (above) are ‘unravelling’ (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

However, the Ofqual guidance said that if the mock result was higher than the teacher’s prediction, it was the teacher’s prediction which would count.

Shadow education secretary Kate Green said it was now up to the British Prime Minister to take charge and resolve the situation.

“The Tories’ results fiasco is turning from tragedy to farce, and the chaos and incompetence is completely unacceptable when so many students and families have been devastated by it,” she said.

“Parents and young people needed action in a matter of days, but the Government are now rapidly running out of time. The Prime Minister must get a grip and sort this out.”

The latest setback comes as ministers are braced for a fresh backlash when GCSE results for England are announced on Thursday.

Like the A-level results, they will initially be based on teacher assessments and then “moderated” by the Ofqual algorithm to bring them in line with previous years’ results.

Mr Williamson has said the process was necessary to prevent “grade inflation” which would render the results worthless after actual exams had to be abandoned due to the coronavirus outbreak.

However, critics have complained it has led to thousands of individual injustices, disproportionately penalising students from schools serving disadvantaged communities.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the Qfqual document was “surreal and bureaucratic”.

He urged the British Government to follow the example of Scotland – where there was a similar outcry – and abandon the moderated results and go back to teacher assessments.

“That would be a better approach than this appeals system as it would mean students would get revised A-level grades immediately on the basis of the teacher assessments already conducted, which draw on the very evidence that is now proposed as part of the appeals process,” he said.

“We don’t blame Ofqual for the bizarre nature of the appeals criteria. The regulator has been given a hospital pass by a Government that is in disarray.

“It is time for ministers to stop the chaos and fall back on teacher-assessed grades rather than prolong this nightmare.”