Labour leader says young people, parents, feel let down and betrayed by system

The UK government has been decried for its “fatally flawed” A-Level grading system with leader of the opposition labour party, Sir Keir Starmer, demanding ministers revert to teacher assessed grades for students who were downgraded.

While hundreds of thousands of disappointed pupils received their results on Thursday, the Labour leader accused Boris Johnson’s government of a “chaotic” mishandling of the education system during recent months.

This came as figures released by Ofqual, the exam regulator, revealed that 39 per cent of teachers’ assessed grades were downgraded using a contentious standardising system that took into account institutions’ historic performance.

The lowering of grades, affecting some 280,000 entries, were administered as officials grappled with the vexing issue of how to determine results in a year in which exams were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Disparities in the system were highlighted by the revelation that independent schools, which are private and expensive, experienced a disproportionate rise in the number of students receiving top A-Level grades.

In a statement on Friday, the Labour leader called for a Scottish-government style U-turn, after Nicola Sturgeon announced students will receive their original grades estimated by teachers. This came after 124,564 results were downgraded in moderation.

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Sir Keir said: “Across the last twenty four hours we have heard heartbreaking stories and the scale of injustice caused by the fatally flawed results system has become clear.

“Young people and parents right across the country, in every town and city, feel let down and betrayed. The unprecedented and chaotic circumstances created by the UK government’s mishandling of education during recent months mean that a return to teacher assessments is now the best option available. No young person should be at a detriment due to government incompetence.

“Time is running out. We need action in days, not weeks. That also means an urgent technical review of the standardisation model ahead of GCSE results next week. We need to end this fiasco.”

Government ministers have, nevertheless, been steadfast in standing by the system, insisting there will be no U-turn akin to the Scottish government’s decision to revert to teacher assessed grades for pupils earlier this week.

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Asked by Times Radio whether he was ruling out a rethink on the A-Level grading system, schools minister Nick Gibbs said on Thursday: “Yes, I can. This system isn’t perfect. The perfect system is for young people to be taking their exam.

“We had to find a way to award grades in a way that enabled them to get their qualifications this year without taking the exam. And that's why we have this system. It was consulted on widely by Ofqual, It had a lot of responses and a lot of support."

Boris Johnson also defended the results, telling reports during a trip to Northern Ireland: “Let’s be in no doubt about it, the exam results that we’ve got today are robust, they’re good, they’re dependable for employers, but I think that there’s a record number of candidates, of students, who are able to get their first choice course at the university of their choice.”

“Plus, there’s a record number of students, of pupils, from disadvantaged backgrounds who now as a result of these grades, will be able to go to university,” the prime minister added.

The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, called on the government to scrap Ofqual’s “fatally flawed” system.

“Across the last 24 hours we have heard heartbreaking stories and the scale of the injustice caused by the fatally flawed results system has become clear,” he said.

“The unprecedented and chaotic circumstances created by the government’s mishandling of education during recent months mean that a return to teacher assessments is now the best option available. No young person should be at a detriment due to government incompetence.

“Time is running out. We need action in days, not weeks. That also means an urgent technical review of the standardisation model ahead of GCSE results next week. We need to end this fiasco.”

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He accused the schools minister, Nick Gibb, of “grossly misleading” students after he promised that any downgrades would be “by just one grade”. Figures from Ofqual showed that around 24,000 results were lowered by more than one grade.

During a turbulent day, Mr Williamson, the education secretary, first admitted high performing pupils risked being penalised by this year’s A-level system and was then confronted by a visibly frustrated school head, who accused the cabinet minister of ignoring the professional judgement of teachers during a televised interview on ITV’s This Morning.

Christine Cunniffe, the principle of LVS Ascot, urged the government to abandon the standardised system while the programme’s resident psychologist Emma Kenny told the education secretary he was “disrespecting teachers and young people” and asked: “How about sorry?”

Tory MPs also criticised Williamson’s handling of the controversy and his abrupt announcement that students could use results from mock exams to appeal.

One MP told the Daily Telegraph: “He’s clearly seen the chaos in Scotland and is trying to move to prevent that scenario. Instead he’s just made himself look panicky and incompetent. In short, he’s justifying his own sacking.”

However, Boris Johnson insisted he had confidence in Mr Williamson and defended the results, claiming: “Let’s be in no doubt about it, the exam results that we’ve got today are robust, they’re good, they’re dependable for employers, but I think that there’s a record number of candidates, of students, who are able to get their first choice course at the university of their choice.”

“Plus, there’s a record number of students, of pupils, from disadvantaged backgrounds who now as a result of these grades, will be able to go to university,” the prime minister added.

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