Hundreds of thousands of students will not get their exam results on Thursday because of the fallout from the government’s U-turn over A-levels and GCSEs, under a last-minute announcement.
Pupils sitting the BTec qualification were told hours before results day that they would have to wait for their grades while their exam board recalculated them to match the government’s change in policy.
Colleges warned that students would be worried about losing out on places in further and higher education, and the exam board admitted that the delay could “cause additional stress and uncertainty” for students.
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Exam board Pearson, which oversees the qualification, said it was having to recalculate grades for level 1 and level 2 in order to be fair to BTec students, who compete against GCSE students for places in further education.
Students at BTec level 3, who have already been given their grades, have also been told that their results may change – though they can only go up and not down.
The decision will mostly affect students taking a more vocational route into work or university; the qualification involves more hands-on practical work and is popular with older learners as well as young people.
“Our priorities are to deliver fair outcomes for BTec students in relation to A-levels and GCSEs and to ensure that no student is disadvantaged,” said Cindy Rampersaud, senior vice president at Pearson for BTec and apprenticeships, in a statement issued on Wednesday evening.
“So, in light of Ofqual’s announcement, we decided to review our approach for BTec students and have taken on board feedback from teachers, schools and colleges before making a number of changes.”
She added: “We have become concerned about unfairness, including consistency with the approaches now being used for GCSE and A-levels.
“This means we will now be removing Pearson-calculated grades and allowing higher outcomes for the externally examined units so they are in line with those assessed by teachers. We believe this is now a more trusted source of evidence of learner attainment.
“We understand that this could cause additional stress and uncertainty for you at this time and we are sincerely sorry.
We understand that this could cause additional stress and uncertainty for you at this time and we are sincerely sorry
Pearson “We have written to schools and colleges this afternoon asking them not to issue any BTec L1 and L2 results tomorrow, while we work to recalculate the final grades. For those level 3 BTec students who have already received results this summer, please be assured that no grades will go down as part of this review.”
The shadow secretary for communities and local government, Steve Reed, said: “It was right that the government U-turned on Monday, but thousands of families are still having to deal with the consequences. The results fiasco is far from over.
“We need a cast-iron guarantee from ministers that no student will lose out on their first choice because of government incompetence. And they must ensure all students have their final grades by the end of the week.
“It beggars belief that students are still in limbo, with no clarity over their futures because of a mess the government created. Families deserve better than this.”
The delay to the issuing of results coincides with concerns about over-recruitment by colleges and universities, with regrading meaning that more students are likely to meet their offers than expected.
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24/50 27 July 2020Demonstrators protest outside the Tate Modern in London over proposed job losses in the wake of the Covid-19 lockdown. The group believe that the emergency money provided by the government to culture-based organisations should be used to retain all jobs and that any other use of the funding is unfair. The gallery on London’s South Bank, as well as the Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives, reopened today after closing in March due to lockdown measures meant to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus
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44/50 7 July 2020A circus performer from the Association of Circus Proprietors in Whitehall, London. The association handed a petition to Downing Street to ask Prime Minister Boris Johnson to allow circuses to reopen
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45/50 6 July 2020Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland, which re-opened to the public after being closed due to the coronavirus lockdown
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47/50 4 July 2020A member of bar staff wearing PPE in the form of a face mask, pours drinks inside the The Goldengrove in Stratford
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48/50 3 July 2020Cardboard cutouts of fans in the stands prior to the League One play-off semi final match between Portsmouth and Oxford United at Fratton Park
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50/50 1 July 2020Slackliner Sandor Nagy practices on the beach in Boscombe, on the south coast of England
AFP via Getty
1/50 19 AugustTate Modern workers hold a strike outside the gallery in London, to protest the institution’s announcement that it would cut more than 300 jobs from its commercial arm, Tate Enterprises
PA
2/50 18 AugustTwo rescued brown bear cubs, Mish (left) and Lucy, cool off in a pool after arriving at their new home with the wildlife conservation charity Wildwood Trust in Herne Bay, Kent. The orphaned pair, who have been living in a temporary home in Belgium since they were found abandoned and alone in a snowdrift in the Albanian mountains, will be acclimatised to their new life in the country before moving to a permanent home
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3/50 17 AugustA level students celebrate outside the Department for Education in London after it was confirmed that candidates in England will be given grades estimated by their teachers, rather than by an algorithm. The government U-turn comes just days after Education Secretary Gavin Williamson vowed there would be “no U-turn, no change.
PA
4/50 16 AugustWasp players take a knee as Northampton Saints stand prior to kick-off in their Premiership match at Franklin’s Gardens
PA
5/50 15 AugustPiper Colour Sergeant Lil Bahadur Gurung attends the VJ Day National Remembrance event, held at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, Britain
Reuters
6/50 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
7/50 13 AugustBenita Stipp (centre) and Mimi Ferguson (left) react as students at Norwich School receive their A-Level results
PA
8/50 12 August 2020A train derailment near Stonehaven has left three people dead. Driver Brett McCullough, conductor Donald Dinnie, and a passenger were killed when the 6.38am Aberdeen to Glasgow Queen Street service crashed amid heavy rain and flooding
BBC
9/50 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
10/50 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
Reuters
11/50 9 August 2020People cycle through Cambridge as the heatwave continues in Britain
EPA
12/50 8 August 2020Healthcare workers take part in a protest in London over pay conditions in the NHS
Getty
13/50 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
14/50 6 August 2020Alison Murphy poses for a picture by husband Peter as she walks through a field of sunflowers in Altrincham, Cheshire
PA
15/50 5 August 2020Pakistan’s Abid Ali being bowled by England’s Jofra Archer during day one of the First Test match at the Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester
PA
16/50 4 August 2020The ‘Timbuktu tumblers’ from Kenya perform their balancing act on the Southsea waterfront as Zippos Circus reopens in Portsmouth
Rex
17/50 3 August 2020Pelicans interact with a visitor in St James’s Park in London
PA
18/50 2 August 2020Lewis Hamilton drives with a puncture towards the finish line to win the Formula One British Grand Prix at Silverstone
POOL/AFP via Getty
19/50 1 August 2020Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang celebrates with the trophy and teammates after winning the FA Cup, as play resumes behind closed doors following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease
Pool via Reuters
20/50 31 July 2020People enjoy the sunny weather at a Bournemouth Beach
Reuters
21/50 30 July 2020An artist puts the finishing touches to a wax figure of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in the entrance line at Madame Tussaud’s in London, as the attraction prepares to reopen to the public following the easing of lockdown restrictions in England
PA
22/50 29 July 2020A member of staff stands on Ai Weiwei’s ‘History of Bombs’ during a photocall for the Chinese artist’s new work on display at the Imperial War Museum in London
PA
23/50 28 July 2020Stuart Broad celebrates after taking the wicket of West Indies batsman Kraigg Brathwaite. It was a milestone wicket in his career, reaching his 500th Test Wicket for England. They went on to beat the West Indies in Manchester and therefore win the series 2-1
Getty/ECB
24/50 27 July 2020Demonstrators protest outside the Tate Modern in London over proposed job losses in the wake of the Covid-19 lockdown. The group believe that the emergency money provided by the government to culture-based organisations should be used to retain all jobs and that any other use of the funding is unfair. The gallery on London’s South Bank, as well as the Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives, reopened today after closing in March due to lockdown measures meant to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus
Getty
25/50 26 July 2020Harry Maguire shakes hands with Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers after Manchester United beat the Foxes. The win meant they finished third in the Premier League and Leicester finished outside a Champions League place in fourth
Pool via Reuters
26/50 25 July 2020Women exercise using pool noodles during an aqua fit class at a gym in Sunbury-on-Thames after gyms and swimming pools were allowed to reopen
AFP via Getty
27/50 24 July 2020Mayor of London Sadiq Khan tries out a new Streetspace protected cycle lane in London at the launch a new online cycle training scheme
PA
28/50 23 July 2020A customer has her hair cut outside at Blade Hairdressers in Soho in London
Getty
29/50 22 July 2020Liverpool’s English midfielder Jordan Henderson lifts the Premier League trophy during the presentation following the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield in Liverpool. Liverpool on Wednesday lifted the Premier League trophy at the famous Kop stand at Anfield after their final home game of the season
AFP via Getty
30/50 21 July 2020Vivienne Westwood demonstrates outside the Old Bailey in support of Julian Assange in London
Reuters
31/50 20 July 2020Comet Neowise in the skies over the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank in Cheshire
PA
32/50 19 July 2020Mods and rockers unite on Madeira Drive, Brighton, for a demonstration to call for the reopening of the road which Brighton & Hove City Council plans to keep closed permanently
PA
33/50 18 July 2020People enjoy the sunny weather at Painshill, an 18th century landscape garden in Cobham, Surrey
PA
34/50 17 July 2020Captain Sir Thomas Moore receives his knighthood from Queen Elizabeth, during a ceremony at Windsor Castle
AP
35/50 16 July 2020Red Arrows do a flypast during the Graduation Ceremony of the Queen’s Squadron at RAF College Cranwell, Lincolnshire
The Daily Telegraph/PA
36/50 15 July 2020Jen Reid poses in front of a black resin and steel statue titled ‘A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020’, which is based on her by Marc Quinn, where it has been installed on the vacant Edward Colston plinth in Bristol city centre. The original statue was pulled down and thrown into Bristol Harbour during Black Lives Matter protests
PA
37/50 14 July 2020Fields of echium and borage in full flower near the town of Thaxted in Essex
PA
38/50 13 July 2020People ride a rollercoaster in a theme park next to Southend pier. Many businesses in tourism and hospitality have been able to reopen after some lockdown measures were eased
Getty
39/50 12 July 2020West Indies’s John Campbell and Jason Holder celebrate winning the test as England’s Rory Burns and teammates look on dejected
Reuters
40/50 11 July 2020Chicldren play in the water during a cricket match between Abinger and Worplesdon & Nurpham in Abinger Hammer, Surrey
Reuters
41/50 10 July 2020People gather for the funeral of Dame Vera Lynn in Ditchling, England. During World War II she travelled to the frontlines, including Burma, entertaining British troops and boosting morale. She died on 18 June at her home in West Sussex
Getty
42/50 9 July 2020Artist Anish Kapoor looks into his sculpture ‘Sky Mirror’ at Houghton Hall, King’s Lynn, ahead of the opening of his largest UK exhibition of outdoor sculptures
PA
43/50 8 July 2020Players take a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement on the first day of the first Test cricket match between England and the West Indies at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton
AFP via Getty
44/50 7 July 2020A circus performer from the Association of Circus Proprietors in Whitehall, London. The association handed a petition to Downing Street to ask Prime Minister Boris Johnson to allow circuses to reopen
EPA
45/50 6 July 2020Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland, which re-opened to the public after being closed due to the coronavirus lockdown
PA
46/50 5 July 2020People visit Columbia Road Flower Market, London, as it reopens following the easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions across England
PA
47/50 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
48/50 3 July 2020Cardboard cutouts of fans in the stands prior to the League One play-off semi final match between Portsmouth and Oxford United at Fratton Park
PA
49/50 2 July 2020A diver cleans the inside window of the seal tank at Tynemouth Aquarium in North Shields, as it prepares to open on Saturday after further coronavirus lockdown restrictions are lifted in England
PA
50/50 1 July 2020Slackliner Sandor Nagy practices on the beach in Boscombe, on the south coast of England
AFP via Getty
David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said: “BTec students deserve equal footing with A-levels and GCSEs. The public perception was that using CAG [centre-assessed] grades for some exams and not for BTec students was unfair. We had asked Pearson to look at a small number of results which looked unfair and they were happy to do that. An overall review can address those results and check that no student has been treated unfairly.
“The timing is worrying, because thousands of students were due to get their results in the morning and others have already got results which we know will not go down, but which might improve. So it is vital for students that this is sorted in days rather than weeks so that students have the chance to celebrate and to plan their next steps. It is a stressful time and this delay will extend the uncertainties.
“Those students wanting to move on to further or higher education will be most worried about losing out on places. We are in close communication with DfE, Ofqual and Pearson to particularly make sure that BTec students applying for universities can still be treated fairly.”
A spokesperson for regulator Ofqual said: “Everyone is working as quickly as possible to confirm results as soon as possible, recognising the impact that delays are having on schools, colleges and students.”
Source: UK Politics - www.independent.co.uk