The Conservative chair of Westminster’s education committee has branded the decision of the exam regulator to suspend A-Level appeal criteria – just hours after it was published – as “farcical”.
Publishing a brief statement on Saturday evening, Ofqual said the policy was “being review” by its board and that further information would be released in “due course”. No reason for the decision was immediately available.
It will undoubtedly add to the sense of chaos at the regulator and the Department for Education (DfE) over A-Level results, with uncertainty still facing thousands of students who were downgraded by a contentious algorithm used to calculate results.
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Speaking about this decision to drop guidance on appeals, the Tory MP Robert Halfon told BBC Breakfast : “That is a huge mess. Goodness knows what is going on at Ofqual. It sows confusion among pupils, headteachers, school teachers, and it’s the last thing we need at this time.
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1/50 15 AugustPiper Colour Sergeant Lil Bahadur Gurung attends the VJ Day National Remembrance event, held at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, Britain
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2/50 14 AugustPeople including students hold placards on Whitehall outside Downing Street as they protest against the downgrading of A-level results. The government faced criticism after education officials downgraded more than a third of pupils’ final grades in a system devised after the coronavirus pandemic led to cancelled exams yes
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1/50 15 AugustPiper Colour Sergeant Lil Bahadur Gurung attends the VJ Day National Remembrance event, held at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, Britain
Reuters
2/50 14 AugustPeople including students hold placards on Whitehall outside Downing Street as they protest against the downgrading of A-level results. The government faced criticism after education officials downgraded more than a third of pupils’ final grades in a system devised after the coronavirus pandemic led to cancelled exams yes
AFP via Getty
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PA
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BBC
5/50 11 August 2020A woman hydrates in the sun after open water swimming at the West Reservoir Centre in north London
Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty
6/50 10 August 2020Prime Minister Boris Johnson takes part in an archery session as he visits Premier Education Summer Camp at Sacred Heart of Mary Girls’ in Upminster
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7/50 9 August 2020People cycle through Cambridge as the heatwave continues in Britain
EPA
8/50 8 August 2020Healthcare workers take part in a protest in London over pay conditions in the NHS
Getty
9/50 7 August 2020Emergency services make their way along the seafront on Bournemouth beach in Dorset on one of the hottest days of the year
PA
10/50 6 August 2020Alison Murphy poses for a picture by husband Peter as she walks through a field of sunflowers in Altrincham, Cheshire
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Rex
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POOL/AFP via Getty
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PA
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Getty/ECB
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The Daily Telegraph/PA
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Getty
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Getty
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AFP via Getty
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EPA
41/50 6 July 2020Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland, which re-opened to the public after being closed due to the coronavirus lockdown
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PA
43/50 4 July 2020A member of bar staff wearing PPE in the form of a face mask, pours drinks inside the The Goldengrove in Stratford
AFP via Getty
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PA
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46/50 1 July 2020Slackliner Sandor Nagy practices on the beach in Boscombe, on the south coast of England
AFP via Getty
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48/50 29 June 2020Former Team GB Rhythmic Gymnastic dancer Hannah Martin during a training session at Ouse Valley Viaduct in Sussex
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50/50 27 June 2020A protest for Justice for Shukri Abdi on Trafalgar Square in London, following a raft of Black Lives Matter protests across the UK
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“We need a ronseal appeal system that is simple, people understand it, that it’s fair and it helps young people climb the education ladder of opportunity.
“My own view that remains is what should happen is every individual student who feels that their grades are unfair, they should be able to appeal through their headteacher and make sure they get a fair crack of the whip in terms of finding out whether their grades are fair or not.”
Mr Halfon described also described the move as “unacceptable”, adding: “This has got to be sorted out. We have to have a ronseal appeals system, not a kind of kafkaesque exam grades no one understands.”
Pressed on whether he believed Mr Williamson was the right person for the job, he replied: “I’m not going to get into the personalities. It’s the prime minister who chooses his government. I’m chair of the educations select committee. I think what parents, pupils, teachers just want is this mess to be sorted out and that has to be the priority for all the players involved.”
Liberal Democrat leader Layla Moran, however, added: “This is embarrassing for the government and excruciating for students. We need clarity and urgently. But we just get chaos and confusion. Gavin Williamson must take responsibility and resign.”
In its statement, an Ofqual spokesperson, said: “Earlier today we published information about mock exam results in appeals. This policy is being reviewed by the Ofqual Board and further information will be published in due course.”
The previously published guidance set out eight criteria that mock exams needed to meet if they were to be considered “valid” under the appeals process.
It also said non-exam assessments could be considered in appeals, meaning recordings of performances by drama students, art work by arts students and practical projects by technology students could be relied upon as evidence.
Labour had accused the education secretary of backtracking on assurances given to students about the appeals process.
Mr Williamson gave a “triple lock” commitment that students could use the highest result out of their teacher’s predicted grade, their mock exam or sitting the actual exam in the autumn.
However, in its document, which has now been removed, Ofqual 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: “Gavin Williamson promised to give students a triple lock, but instead he left many devastated by unfair exam results, and now his commitment to give them another chance is rapidly unravelling,” she said.
“Having promised that students will be able to use a valid mock result, the reality is that many will not receive these grades even if they represent a student’s best result.
“The latest chaos is the inevitable consequence of this Government’s shambolic approach to exams, which saw solutions dreamt up on the back of a cigarette packet and announced barely a day before young people received their results.”
Source: UK Politics - www.independent.co.uk