EXAM MESS
Teens face A-level crisis after exam bosses admit they don’t have plan for appeals process
TENS of thousands of teens could face an A-Level crisis today after exam bosses admitted they have not worked out the appeals process.
Because exams were cancelled during lockdown, a computer algorithm is for the first time being used to adjust grades given by teachers to 250,000 students.
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Four in ten grades have been changed, with many marked down, after teachers tried to dish out record numbers of A*s.
Some even tried to award all pupils straight A*s, The Sun understands.
An 11th-hour change, implemented after chaos in Scotland forced a U-turn, has seen a “triple lock” put in place.
It means pupils will be able to appeal, resit exams in the autumn or use their mock grades — as long as mocks were sat under proper exam conditions.
However exam bosses Ofqual admitted those teens who miss out on a university place will have to wait until next week to find out how the appeal process works.
They added: “We are working urgently to operationalise this as fairly as possible and to determine what standards of evidence will be required for the appeal.”
He admitted there are “many things we would have taken a different approach on” — but did not say what.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer warned of a “complete fiasco”.
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The Sun Says
OUR sympathies are with A-level students facing uncertainty today.
Given the unprecedented situation has wreaked havoc with their exams, no solution is going to be perfect.
And so we offer broad support to the Government and its “triple lock” strategy, which aims to give the vast majority of English and Welsh pupils the results they deserve.
It makes much more sense than the indiscriminately clunky Scottish strategy — which saw thousands of kids miss out on good grades, until Nicola Sturgeon was forced to make a humiliating U-turn and bump grades up.
We are concerned, though, about the long-term prospects of school leavers across the home nations. If Rishi Sunak keeps incentivising businesses to take on apprenticeships, the class of 2020 stands a chance of gainful employment plugging Britain’s many skills gaps.
But if the Chancellor drops the ball, the future of British teenagers looks a lot less rosy: Evidence from previous crises indicates that the under-25s will bear the brunt of the job and pay cuts when this recession gets into full swing.
Come on, Rishi. Don’t let Generation Corona down.
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He said: “Talking to teachers today, it’s obvious they expect young people will do better in the real exam than they’d done in the mock. It’s not going to work, it’s not going to wash.”
Whitehall said the computer standardised system was needed to stop grade inflation tearing out of control.
Research by Buckingham University found that without moderation the percentage of A*s in England would balloon from 7.8 per cent last year to 13.8 per cent this year.
Gavin Williamson apologises to every child over exams chaos ahead of A Level results day
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