Evening summary
Right, that’s it from me. We’ll be winding this blog down shortly but do continue to follow all breaking coronavirus news on our global live blog here. Have a good evening.
- Gavin Williamson and Ofqual have apologised to students and their parents, as they announced that all A-level and GCSE results in England will be based on teacher-assessed grades. In a spectacular U-turn, the education secretary announced the government would scrap the controversial standardisation model drawn up by the exams regulator to award grades in lieu of exams. Instead, both A-levels and GCSE results will revert to centre-assessed grades, which were submitted by schools earlier this summer. Read our full story here.
- The about-turn by the UK government came after the Welsh government and Northern Ireland executive confirmed that they too would scrap the standardisation model, meaning the vast majority of post-16 students across the UK will now be awarded grades based on teachers’ assessments.
- The announcement followed a day of mounting pressure on the UK government from a number of Tory MPs, including two serving ministers. Following the U-turn, the Tory chair of the Commons education committee, Robert Halfon, said the government has “serious questions” to answer over its handling of exam results.
- However, the announcement did not apply to BTec students, creating uncertainty for countless students of technical courses. Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, said he would not withdraw the threat of legal action until the government confirmed that BTec students would also be given teacher-assessed grades.
- Greater Manchester Police says it has seen an “unacceptable increase” in the number of breaches of lockdown restrictions since they were imposed on the region on 31 June. Between Friday and Sunday, it recorded 863 incidents related to Covid-19. Of these, 62 related to breaches at licensed premises, the force said.
- Another food processing plant has been closed down temporarily following an outbreak of Covid-19 among staff. Four members of staff at the 2 Sisters chicken processing site, near Perth and Kinross in Scotland, have fallen ill while a further two people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the community.
- Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, said she was concerned about an increase in outbreaks around the country, including 207 cases in the large outbreak in Aberdeen, and smaller clusters in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire and in north-east Glasgow, both of which included schoolchildren. She said a further 26 Covid-19 cases had been recorded overnight – 13 of which were in the Grampian region which includes Aberdeen. That took Scotland’s historical total to 19,358, while the number of hospital cases rose overnight by five, to 248.
- Ryanair is to cancel almost one in five flights from its September and October schedules after a drop in bookings in the last 10 days, as Covid-19 cases have increased in Europe, leading to fresh quarantine restrictions. Europe’s biggest carrier said forward bookings had “noticeably weakened” and it would take 20% from its capacity to reflect demand, mainly cutting flight frequencies rather than routes.
Government faces serious exam questions, says senior Tory MP
Robert Halfon, the Tory chairman of the Commons education select committee, said the government has “serious questions” to answer over its handling of exam results this summer.
Speaking to the BBC’s PM programme, he said:
I had hoped that they would have developed with Ofqual what I call a Ronseal-type appeal system - that ‘does what it says on the tin’, that was clear, that was easy to understand, that was fair, that every pupil should have been able to appeal via their headteacher if they had felt their grade was unfair.
“I would also have hoped that Ofqual would have gone around to the schools explaining about their standardisation process. None of this happened and there clearly need to be serious questions asked about what on earth has gone on.
Greater Manchester Police sees 800 breaches of lockdown restrictions in three days
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) says it has seen an “unacceptable increase” in the number of breaches of lockdown restrictions since they were imposed on the region on 31 June.
Between Friday and Sunday, it recorded 863 incidents related to Covid-19. Of these, 62 related to breaches at licensed premises, the force said.
Ian Pilling, GMP’s deputy chief constable, said the increase in breaches was “completely unacceptable”. He added:
This is obviously increasing demand on our services and means that officers might be dealing with a gathering when we receive a report of a critical or major incident.
We simply will not tolerate this selfish behaviour, which is demonstrated by the enforcement action we have taken this weekend and are prepared to take in future. When breaches are identified, officers have a number of options including issuing fixed penalty notices which result in fines and anti-social behaviour closure orders which prohibit anyone, except residents, entering a property for up to three months – this includes outside areas.
Covid-19 is still a real risk to people and we all have a responsibility to follow the rules to protect as many of our loved ones as possible. The rules are easy to follow and I strongly encourage anyone who isn’t 100 per cent sure about what they should and should not be doing to read the explanation on the government’s website.
There’s more from the Gavin Williamson off-camera press conference.
The education secretary was asked why he didn’t spot the issue earlier.
He replied, according to Schools Week, that he worked closely with Ofqual and they were constantly reassured about fairness and robustness.
But he added: “We don’t get any detailed data before schools but when we started to see concerning outliers... that’s why I felt action had to be taken.”
Sam Freedman, the former senior policy advisor to the then-education secretary Michael Gove, said that if correct this is an “extraordinary” admission by Williamson.
If that's true from Williamson it's astonishing. Even in a normal year we saw the data a few days before release. How on earth did they not ask to see it?! https://t.co/x9UZPcUkMZ
— Sam Freedman (@Samfr) August 17, 2020
Freedman also makes a good point that Williamson announced a “triple lock” on Tuesday night, before the data went to schools. If he had not seen the data, why did he need to announce such a policy?
Also he did his triple lock thing on Tuesday night before the data went to schools so is he saying he did that before knowing anything about what it showed!?
— Sam Freedman (@Samfr) August 17, 2020
Gavin Williamson has reportedly said he only saw Ofqual’s exams algorithm this weekend, which sounds incredible given that it will have been in planning for months. This from the Sunday Times education editor, Sian Griffiths:
In press conference with @GavinWilliamson and he says he only saw the alogorithm from @ofqual this weekend! He responds (paraphrase) When we saw this extra data (and the concerns around it) we had to make sure we acted swiftly. Wow so @ofqual seems to be being dumped in it!
— Sian Griffiths (@SianGriffiths6) August 17, 2020
Updated
Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, says he will not drop his legal action until the government clarifies situation affected students with BTec qualifications.
I can assure you that I will not be withdrawing my legal action until we have justice for BTEC students too. https://t.co/30Mno700wM
— Andy Burnham (@AndyBurnhamGM) August 17, 2020
One tutor has been in touch with me to say that two of his students were failed for a piece of coursework they never had the opportunity to do and, if they had been able to complete it, “they would never have failed”. He said BTec and CTec students were being “utterly forgotten about”.
The university admissions body, Ucas, is advising students who were not placed with their first choice university last week to take time to decide on their future plans.
It said 69% – 193,420 – of 18 year old “main scheme applicants” across the UK were placed with their first choice university, which is higher than at the same point last year.
Ucas added: “For those students who were not placed with their firm (or insurance) choice university, our advice is that you don’t need to make your decision immediately.
Speak with your parents, guardians and teachers and then your first conversation will need to be to your firm (or insurance) choice university. Once your university has your ‘Centre Assessed Grades (CAG)’ via exam bodies they can make a decision as to whether there is a place at your preferred choice.
We will be issuing new advice for students and schools and this will be sent directly to students as soon as they are able to take a decision.
UCAS is working with Universities UK and the education sector and whilst the decision is with the individual university, we will do everything we can to support students to use their CAGs to secure the best possible outcome.
Gavin Williamson realised there were "unfairnesses" with exams over the weekend
The education secretary Gavin Williamson has said it became apparent “over the weekend” that there were “unfairnesses” in the exam results, despite days of testimony from students and teachers from across the UK.
In a pre-recorded broadcast interview, Williamson said he was “incredibly sorry for all the students who have been through this”. He added:
When we came up with the system which was broadly supported across the spectrum of calculated grades, what we were doing is to ensure we had the fairest possible system, making sure we look after the interests of all students. But when it became apparent that there were unfairnesses within the system, it was the right thing to act.
Asked when that became apparent, he said:
Over the weekend it became clearer to me that there were a level ... the number of students who were getting grades that frankly they shouldn’t have been getting, they should have been doing a lot better, and the evidence both from Ofqual and other external bodies was apparent that action needed to be taken.
(A reminder that Williamson told the Times on Friday – when there was mounting evidence of widespread unfairness following the A-level results in England the previous day – that there would be “no U-turn, no change” and that the teacher-assessed model in Scotland had “rampant grade inflation”.)
In the broadcast interview, Williamson said the first course of action was to put in place a “robust and broad-ranging” appeals system, but “as we looked at in greater detail, over Saturday and Sunday, it became evident that further action needed to be taken”.
Asked whether he found it concerning that he only saw these discrepancies over the weekend, Williamson said that all the way through the process “we have constantly asked for reassurance about the fairness of the system”:
But at the weekend, as more evidence came in, it was clear that we needed to act. That’s what we have done. That’s why we’re going to be moving to the process of centre-assessed grades, making sure equally that those children who got a higher grade - of which there are a considerably number [who got a higher grade than that predicted by their teachers] - actually there’s a situation where none of them will have that grade marked down.
Updated
University admissions cap to be lifted, government confirms
The recently announced plan to cap the number of students English universities can recruit is to be removed, the Department for Education has just confirmed.
A spokesman said those pupils who missed out on places at their first choice institutions will be asked to go back and speak to them about reversing that decision if their new grades are good enough – and ministers will expect universities to be flexible.
In order to create extra capacity, the planned cap will not apply. This refers also to a limit on the number of students from England who can enrol at universities in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The union representing headteachers, the NAHT, said “the problem is far from over” for students who may already have missed out on their first choice university.
Paul Whiteman, the general secretary, said the move “may already be too late for some A level students who have already missed out on their first choice of university and course”.
He added: “Every day of delay is going to have loaded more and more difficulty onto universities and their capacity to meet all of the demand for places that will now inevitably come their way. For them, the problem is far from over.”
Universities UK, the representative body for universities, said it is seeking “urgent clarification and advice from government on a number of crucial issues” following the U-turn.
Alistair Jarvis, its chief executive, said:
The events and confusion of recent days have added further uncertainty and distress to students who have already faced many difficulties as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The best interests of students must be the priority, and universities are being as flexible as possible with applicants and will continue to support students to find a suitable university place.
Jarvis said the policy change would mean that more students will have the grades that match the offer of their first choice university. He added:
This will cause challenges at this late stage in the admissions process – capacity, staffing, placements and facilities – particularly with the social distance measures in place. Universities will do everything they can to work through these issues in the days ahead. The government will need to step up and support universities through the challenges created by this late policy change. We are seeking urgent clarification and advice from government on a number of crucial issues.
Almost 70% of students are already placed with their first-choice institution, but those who are not should think carefully about their next steps, speak to their parents, guardians and teachers and get in to contact with their preferred university to advise on their options.
Northern Ireland has also now abandoned plans to use a standardisation for A-level grades, meaning all of the UK will now use teacher assessments for this year’s post-16 exams which were cancelled due to coronavirus.
Updated
Ofqual has said the move to teacher-assessed grades would apply to GCSEs and A-levels in England – but not BTecs, the specialist work-related qualifications that include more practical learning than A-levels.
Some educationalists are saying that those studying BTecs – many of whom still haven’t received their grades, despite being due to get them last week – had been disadvantaged by the UK government’s announcement:
Students who have taken BTECs, utterly disadvantaged by this decision but there won't be the media or social media clamour because they aren't middle class qualifications https://t.co/LyShqUA4vV
— Russell George (@FECareersIAG) August 17, 2020
The Labour MP Zarah Sultana said it was now important that “unfair BTEC downgrades are corrected”:
We now need to push to ensure that unfair BTEC downgrades are corrected, that no one wrongly loses a place at university, & that financial support is made available for those who have to defer.
— Zarah Sultana MP (@zarahsultana) August 17, 2020
And Gavin Williamson should resign for causing this fiasco.
@JoshHalliday Hi Josh. BTEC and CTEC students being utterly forgotten about here. I had 2 students given fail for a piece of coursework they never got the opportunity to do (OCR advised to stop all coursework + no exams). They never would have failed. Why are CAGs not being used?
— Billy Barrington (@billybarrington) August 17, 2020
Updated
One of the groups that had been planning to take the UK government to court over exam grades has said it is dropping its legal action, following the U-turn. Jo Maugham QC, the director of the Good Law Project, tweeted:
Statement on Government A Level U-turn pic.twitter.com/wEWYElgCil
— Jo Maugham QC (@JolyonMaugham) August 17, 2020
Mary Curnock Cook, the former chief executive of Ucas, said the government must announce immediately that the cap on university admissions will be lifted to accommodate the new grading system.
Many universities will have already filled their courses based on the grades published last Thursday. Speaking on BBC News, she said:
Decisions have already been made by universities about who they accept, who they don’t accept, who goes into clearing and so on. This change will mean that universities have to rethink completely.
Some 55,000 students were accepted into their second choice university or into the clearing system, where courses are filled by students who missed out on their first choice university. Many of these students could now be eligible for their first choice university, throwing the admission process into chaos.
There are a further 80,000 students with holding offers, so there are potentially 150,000 students who could be changing university on the back of this announcement.
Curnock Cook said she hoped the government would put support in place for students who now be forced to defer their place even though their grades were now right for their first choice university.
Statement from Gavin Williamson
Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, has apologised to students and parents affected by “significant inconsistencies” with the grading process.
Williamson said in a statement:
This has been an extraordinarily difficult year for young people who were unable to take their exams. We worked with Ofqual to construct the fairest possible model, but it is clear that the process of allocating grades has resulted in more significant inconsistencies than can be resolved through an appeals process.
He added: “We now believe it is better to offer young people and parents certainty by moving to teacher assessed grades for both A and AS level and GCSE results.
“I am sorry for the distress this has caused young people and their parents but hope this announcement will now provide the certainty and reassurance they deserve.”
Keir Starmer attacks Boris Johnson's 'failure to lead' after exams 'fiasco'
Strong words from the Labour leader, Keir Starmer:
The Government has had months to sort out exams and has now been forced into a screeching U-turn after days of confusion.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) August 17, 2020
This is a victory for the thousands of young people who have powerfully made their voices heard this past week.
However, the Tories’ handling of this situation has been a complete fiasco.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) August 17, 2020
Incompetence has become this Government’s watchword, whether that is on schools, testing or care homes.
Boris Johnson’s failure to lead is holding Britain back.
Updated
Our full story on the Ofqual announcement is here. It begins:
All A-level and GCSE results in England will be based on teacher-assessed grades, the government has confirmed, in a spectacular U-turn after an outcry among pupils, teachers and politicians.
Ministers announced they were to scrap the controversial standardisation model drawn up by the exams regulator, Ofqual, to award grades in lieu of exams and revert to centre-assessed grades submitted by schools earlier this summer.
The climbdown comes after days of turmoil triggered by the publication of A-level results last Thursday, when almost 40% of predicted results were downgraded, with some students marked down two or even three grades, which resulted in many losing university places.
Ofqual statement in full
Ofqual chairman Roger Taylor said in a statement:
We understand this has been a distressing time for students, who were awarded exam results last week for exams they never took. The pandemic has created circumstances no one could have ever imagined or wished for. We want to now take steps to remove as much stress and uncertainty for young people as possible - and to free up heads and teachers to work towards the important task of getting all schools open in two weeks.
After reflection, we have decided that the best way to do this is to award grades on the basis of what teachers submitted. The switch to centre assessment grades will apply to both AS and A-levels and to the GCSE results which students will receive later this week.
There was no easy solution to the problem of awarding exam results when no exams have taken place. Ofqual was asked by the Secretary of State to develop a system for awarding calculated grades, which maintained standards and ensured that grades were awarded broadly in line with previous years. Our goal has always been to protect the trust that the public rightly has in educational qualifications.
But we recognise that while the approach we adopted attempted to achieve these goals we also appreciate that it has also caused real anguish and damaged public confidence. Expecting schools to submit appeals where grades were incorrect placed a burden on teachers when they need to be preparing for the new term and has created uncertainty and anxiety for students. For all of that, we are extremely sorry.
We have therefore decided that students be awarded their centre assessment for this summer - that is, the grade their school or college estimated was the grade they would most likely have achieved in their exam - or the moderated grade, whichever is higher.
The path forward we now plan to implement will provide urgent clarity. We are already working with the Department for Education, universities and everyone else affected by this issue.
UK government adopts teacher-assessed grades in England in major U-turn
Exams regulator Ofqual has just announced that all A-levels and GCSEs in England will now be graded according to teacher assessment, just days after the education secretary, Gavin Williamson, promised “No U-turn, no change” despite an outcry from students, teachers and MPs.
This means A-level and GCSE results in England will now be based on teachers’ assessments unless the grades produced by the controversial algorithm are higher.
Updated
Coronavirus infection rate doubles in Birmingham
Birmingham’s public health director has said the city could “very easily” face additional lockdown restrictions imminently following a large rise in coronavirus cases.
Dr Justin Varney said the city’s infection rate had more than doubled since the start of August and that there had been 321 new Covid-19 cases in the past week.
Varney said it was likely Birmingham would feature in the national “watch list” of places most at risk of intervention within days, with no sign of the current rise in cases easing off, BirminghamLive reports.
“We could very easily be in a situation like we have seen in Leicester and Greater Manchester,” he said this morning. At the start of the month the city had an infection rate of around 12 cases per 100,000 of the population. That rose to 24 by the end of last week, and today stands at “around 30”, the website reports.
Ryanair is to cancel almost one in five flights from its September and October schedules after a drop in bookings in the last 10 days, as Covid-19 cases have increased in Europe, leading to fresh quarantine restrictions.
Europe’s biggest carrier said forward bookings had “noticeably weakened” and it would take 20% from its capacity to reflect demand, mainly cutting flight frequencies rather than routes.
Ryanair said the biggest cuts in its flight network would be to France, Spain and Sweden, as well as Ireland, which has imposed tight quarantine rules.
You can read the full story here:
School leaders in Wales have welcomed the announcement in the last hour that teacher-assessed grades will be accepted for A-levels and GCSEs.
Eithne Hughes, director of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) Cymru, said: “
We welcome the government’s decision to put an end to the grading fiasco by allowing students to receive teacher-assessed grades rather than grades which have been moderated down.
Students, parents, and teachers will breathe a sigh of relief after days of confusion and palpable upset at the anomalies thrown up by an algorithm in which the individual learner was lost.
Hughes said the decision would mean that there is grade inflation this year but that it was a “small price to pay for remedying the manifest injustices produced by the statistical model used to moderate grades.”
Updated
PA Media is reporting that A-level results in Northern Ireland are set to based on teachers’ predictions, its sources say, following widespread criticism of the standardisation model.
Stormont ministers faced a backlash from school heads, parents and pupils after last week’s results were based around an approach calculating grades on a region-wide basis.
Education minister Peter Weir has been under pressure to act amid claims significant numbers of students were downgraded from their teachers’ expectations.
Tobias Ellwood, the Tory MP and chair of the Commons defence select committee, has tweeted:
I agree.
— Tobias Ellwood MP (@Tobias_Ellwood) August 17, 2020
Views across Bournemouth Schools are to move to teacher assessed grades for both A levels and GCSEs.
Let’s clear this up and give clarity to our students at this difficult time. https://t.co/9wNUgPTNsG
With an hour to go until Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, is expected to announce a significant change of approach on exam results in England, it is worth reminding ourselves of his words at the weekend.
“This is it,” he told the Times on Saturday. “No U-turn, no change.”
Williamson went further, saying that moving to a system like Scotland’s – which reverted to teacher-assessed grades after a similar outcry to that in England – would be unwise. Using teacher’s grades was a “a system where there aren’t any controls, you’ve got rampant grade inflation,” he said: “There’s been no checks and balances in that system; it degrades every single grade as a result and in-bakes unfairness.”
He added last week:
If we see one year where you see the grade distributions so distorted and so changed then actually the value and the worth of what those grades are is damaged as a result of that.
And when we look at future years – the children coming through next year doing their GCSEs, their A-levels and their BTecs – they’ll be in a situation where their grades will look substantially worse off than the grades of the previous year.
A domino effect is now unfolding across the UK as Scotland and now Wales have ditched the algorithm-produced results. There are reports that Northern Ireland could be about to follow suit, having already said it would take teacher-assessed grades for GCSE results this week. And, in an hour, we will find out if Williamson will stick to his words of just 48 hours ago: “No U-turn. No change.”
Updated
Kate Green MP, Labour’s shadow education secretary, says Boris Johnson must now “follow the lead of the Welsh government which has acted to ensure young people in Wales get the qualifications they deserve”.
She added: “The PM must get a grip on the situation in England now, and end the historic injustice that he is imposing on young people across the country”
Updated
The Welsh government education minister, Kirsty Williams, says “the balance of fairness” now lies with awarding grades on the basis of teacher assessments following Scotland’s about-turn last week.
In a statement on the Welsh government website, Williams added:
I am taking this decision now ahead of results being released this week, so that there is time for the necessary work to take place.
For grades issued last week, I have decided that all awards in Wales, will also be made on the basis of teacher assessment.
For those young people, for whom our system produced higher grades than those predicted by teachers, the higher grades will stand.
Maintaining standards is not new for 2020, it is a feature of awarding qualifications every year in Wales, and across the UK.
However, it is clear that maintaining confidence in our qualifications whilst being fair to students requires this difficult decision.
These have been exceptional circumstances, and in due course I will be making a further statement on an independent review of events following the cancellation of this year’s exams.
Other awarding bodies across the UK are involved in determining the approach to vocational qualifications. This continues to be the case but it is important that I give assurance to GCSE, AS and A-level students at the earliest opportunity.
Updated
Welsh government U-turn on exam results
A-level and GCSE grades will now be awarded to students in Wales on the basis of teacher assessments, the Welsh government has said.
Updated
There have been no further reported deaths of people who tested positive for coronavirus in Wales, health officials have said.
The total number of deaths in Wales since the beginning of the pandemic remains at 1,589. Public Health Wales said the total number of cases in the country had increased by 14, bringing the revised total of confirmed cases to 17,575.
The latest number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus in Wales has been updated.
— Public Health Wales (@PublicHealthW) August 17, 2020
Data dashboard:
💻 https://t.co/zpWRYSUbfh
📱 https://t.co/HSclxpZjBh
Find out how we are responding to the spread of the virus in our daily statement here: https://t.co/u6SKHz0zsG pic.twitter.com/ve6gjt7HXy
Summary
Here’s a quick summary of a busy day so far:
- The government is expected to ditch the algorithm used to standardise last week’s A-level results in England following days of criticism from students, teachers and MPs. An announcement by the education secretary, Gavin Williamson, and Ofqual is expected at 4pm. Read our latest story on that here.
- At least 30 Conservative MPs, including two serving government ministers and several ex-ministers, have spoken out about the exams fiasco. Penny Mordaunt and Johnny Mercer, both current government ministers, have broken ranks to criticise the handling of A-levels and GCSEs.
- Despite growing turmoil in government, No 10 has confirmed that Boris Johnson is on holiday in Scotland. He is said to have spoken with Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, and officials this morning as the government seeks a clear way out of the mess.
- Another food processing plant has been closed down temporarily following an outbreak of Covid-19 among staff. Four members of staff at the 2 Sisters chicken processing site, near Perth and Kinross in Scotland, have fallen ill while a further two people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the community.
- Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, said she was concerned about an increase in outbreaks around the country, including 207 cases in the large outbreak in Aberdeen, and smaller clusters in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire and in north-east Glasgow, both of which included schoolchildren. She said a further 26 Covid-19 cases had been recorded overnight – 13 of which were in the Grampian region which includes Aberdeen. That took Scotland’s historical total to 19,358, while the number of hospital cases rose overnight by five, to 248.
- Ryanair is to cancel almost one in five flights from its September and October schedules after a drop in bookings in the last 10 days, as Covid-19 cases have increased in Europe, leading to fresh quarantine restrictions. Europe’s biggest carrier said forward bookings had “noticeably weakened” and it would take 20% from its capacity to reflect demand, mainly cutting flight frequencies rather than routes.
Updated
Two more Tory MPs have spoken out on exams. Sir Roger Gale, the MP for North Thanet, says the government should adopt “teacher recommendations for this year only” in England.
Given the huge disquiet surrounding this years #ALevelResults. I believe the time has come for teacher recommendations for this year only. Regarding the fact, this will lead to qualification inflation.
— Sir Roger Gale MP (@SirRogerGale) August 17, 2020
Lucy Allan, the MP for Telford, said it was “simply not feasible to decide these issues by algorithm”.
Writing on her website, Allan accused the exams regulator Ofqual of “failing to recognise the individual and the impact on the individual and their future. It was also foolish to behave as if exams had happened, when they did not”.
She added:
I would urge employers, colleges and universities to do what they can to accommodate the students to whom they made offers. If places are limited, they should hold interviews or online tests and use their judgment. Neither predicated grades nor grades calculated by an algorithm can replace actual exam results. Of primary importance is that we cannot let this pandemic block students from pursuing their career goals and that is what we all need to focus on now.
Updated
The Tory former minister Steve Brine said the government needs to make a “radical” announcement on exam results today.
Speaking to the BBC’s World at One, he said: “I think that the announcement this afternoon needs to be and will be radical.”
He added:
If you’re Ofqual, the system-wide objective was clearly met, the algorithm did its job because the overall results were broadly in line with previous years. But you see our young people, they’re not a system, they are not a computer model.
Updated
Students in Staffordshire are marching to the constituency office of the education secretary, Gavin Williamson, chanting “trust our teachers”. One student carried a placard saying: “Boris! Have the courage to admit you got it wrong.”
A Level students here in Codsall begin their march to Gavin Williamson’s constituency office. They’re shouting ‘trust our teachers’ @ITVCentral pic.twitter.com/VecVxIjBPT
— Daniel Skipp (@DanielSkipp) August 17, 2020
Updated
David Blunkett, a former Labour education secretary, was just on BBC Radio 4’s World at One. He believes the government will revert to teacher-assessed grades but should have done so weeks ago.
He said ministers should defer GCSE results beyond this Thursday so that there is not “one layer of fiasco on top of another”.
His message for government was to “bite the bullet” and allow for the modest grade inflation that would follow reverting to teacher-assessed grades. He said this year’s students had suffered enough already and that such a move would not affect standards in the long term.
Blunkett warned of a “triple whammy” of chaos heading down the tracks if ministers mess up GCSEs and then the return of schools in September:
It’s a unique situation to have achieved the hostility, the hurt, the frustration and the anger that exists at the moment. But perpetuate that with GCSEs – far more students dependent on their results to go into either sixth form or into apprenticeships and training ... and then mess up the return of schools at the beginning of September and you’ve got a triple whammy.
Updated
Families across Scotland have been breaching quarantine rules by sending their children back to school within days of returning from holidays in countries on the quarantine list.
Jason Leitch, the Scottish government’s national clinical director, said he and the country’s chief medical officer and chief nursing officer were writing to all Scotland’s education directors, asking them to remind head teachers of the quarantine regulations.
Leitch said he had been warned by public health directors there had been “a number of cases of young people and children being in school after recently returning from countries not exempt from quarantine rules. I must remind you that the law requires anyone who returns from non-exempt countries to self-isolate for 14 days.”
The Sun reported those incidents included two pupils who had been to the Spanish island of Lanzarote and went back to school at Garnock community campus in Glengarnock, North Ayrshire, for two hours on Friday, before their 14 days of quarantine were over.
A North Ayrshire council spokesperson told the paper both pupils were tested and the results were negative. “We can confirm that two pupils who were coming to the end of their quarantine period attended school for two hours on Friday,” the council said.
“When we discovered that they should still have been quarantining, they were placed in isolation, the rooms they had been in were cleaned, and they were met by their parents outside and taken home.”
Pupils at other schools including in Baillieston, Glasgow, in Coatbridge and in Airdrie, have been involved in other Covid-19 clusters over the last week although none are known to be linked to recent trips abroad
Updated
Given the understandable focus on exams, there has been relatively little attention this morning to the government’s plan to axe Public Health England.
My colleague Denis Campbell reported last night that senior doctors, hospital bosses and public health experts believe ministers were scapegoating Public Health England for their own failings by breaking up the organisation during an ongoing pandemic.
Now a No 10 spokesman has commented on the plans, which were first reported at the weekend. Setting out the government’s view, the spokesman said: “We have always said we must learn the right lessons from the crisis and act to ensure government structures are fit to cope.
“But I would make the point that PHE have played an integral role in our response to this unprecedented pandemic, working on important issues such as detection, surveillance, contact tracing and testing,”
Updated
No 10 hints that exam algorithm will be ditched in England
Downing Street has dropped a heavy hint that ministers are preparing to ditch the algorithm used to standardise last week’s A-level results in England after days of intense political pressure, my colleagues Heather Stewart and Sally Weale report.
Boris Johnson held a phone call with ministers and senior officials from his holiday in Scotland on Monday morning, his spokesman said.
“The whole of government has been working hard and continues to work hard to come up with the fairest system possible,” he said. “We recognise this has been an incredibly difficult year, and that is why that work continues,” he said.
“We recognise that many people are concerned and anxious about the exam grading system.”
It is understood that an official announcement will be made around 4pm.
Asked why the education secretary, Gavin Williamson, had not made any public statement on the crisis since Saturday, the spokesman said, “you saw the education secretary last week, and I expect you’ll see him again.”
You can read the full story here:
Boris Johnson is on holiday despite exams turmoil
Boris Johnson is on holiday in Scotland despite the crisis over the A-level results, Downing Street has said.
PA Media reports that a Number 10 spokesman said the prime minister broke into his holiday to speak to Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, on Monday morning.
“The Prime Minister spoke to the Education Secretary and senior officials this morning,” the spokesman said. “We continue to work hard to come up with the fairest system possible.”
Another 2 Sisters chicken-processing factory, this time in Coupar Angus in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, has been closed down after a Covid-19 outbreak infected workers at the plant.
The owners of the plant said they had voluntarily stopped production after four members of staff fell ill. NHS Tayside said two other cases had been detected in the community.
Other meat processing plants elsewhere in the UK suspended operations over the summer due to Covid-19 outbreaks, including another 2 Sisters factory at Llangefni, Anglesey, which was closed for two weeks after 56 cases were detected there in June.
Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, said on Monday she was concerned about an increase in outbreaks around the country, including 207 cases in the large outbreak in Aberdeen, and smaller clusters in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire and in north east Glasgow, both of which included school children.
She said a further 26 new Covid-19 cases had been recorded overnight - 13 of which were in the Grampian region which includes Aberdeen. That took Scotland’s historic total to 19,358, while the number of hospital cases rose overnight by five, to 248.
A 2 Sisters spokesman told the Courier newspaper:
Our priority remains the safety and wellbeing of all colleagues, and we will be reviewing the situation closely in partnership with the relevant regional and national Scottish Covid-19 taskforces before we restart production. The facility had previously operated for six months without a single positive Covid-19 case recorded.
The Tory MP Jason McCartney says teacher-assessed grades “however imperfect, seem the only workable solution”:
As Co Chair of 6th Form Colleges APPG I’ve been busy speaking to & supporting local Principals, Headteachers, parents & students over the weekend - we need a resolution to the uncertainty & Centre Assessed Grades, how ever imperfect, seem the only workable solution @SFCA_info
— Jason McCartney MP (@JasonMcCartney) August 17, 2020
Updated
Second minister calls for U-turn on exams
Johnny Mercer has become the second government minister to call for a U-turn on A-level results and appeared to hint that a change on the policy was coming.
In a post to “young people in Plymouth” on Facebook, the defence minister wrote:
I am acutely aware of the issues around A-level results and am equally concerned for the GCSE results on Thursday. As someone who spends so much time in the schools and colleges in my constituency, and someone who strives endlessly to improve opportunities for young people from Plymouth, you can imagine my views, which I have made very clear within government.
I do not believe this is the end of the story - there are too many clear injustices. At this time we must not panic, and await developments. I am limited in what I can say publicly – I have had many private conversations.
Rest assured my views and motivations in politics do not change with the winds of ministerial office or the like; I am your MP, on your side, and as I have demonstrated many times before, not afraid to show it.
As someone who joined a modern compassionate Conservative party to deliver an aggressive life chances improvement agenda in a city that had been let down for too long by its political leaders, I can assure you none of that has changed. Let’s see what happens in the coming days.
Updated
The Children’s Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, says the algorithm used to determine this year’s A-Level and GCSE results in England is “irredeemably flawed”. She added:
It is not in children’s interests for weeks of appeals and arguments among adults to continue. Nor is it in the interest of schools, which should be focusing on their final preparations for reopening safely to all students in September.
Having looked at the evidence, it seems clear to me that GCSE results this year should be based on centre assessment grades - not the algorithm developed by Ofqual. Pupils will have another two years in school or training to correct any perceived anomalies.
Longfield said if switching to teacher-assessed grades results in more students going to universities “then so be it”. “Ministers will just have to expand the number of places,” she said, adding:
This is surely better than the risk of throwing a generation’s life chances away, by thrusting students who didn’t get the required grades into the worst jobs market of their lives.
It is notable that other countries in Europe have managed to find better, more creative and fairer ways than the UK of replacing or managing final school examinations during Covid-19. In due course, I hope the Government and Ofqual will consider the injustices that occur when the efforts, talents and dreams of children are considered to be reducible to the output from a statistical model.
At least 28 Tory MPs criticise exams chaos
At least 28 Conservative MPs have publicly criticised the exams fiasco, reports Steven Swinford of the Times. These include the serving Cabinet Office minister Penny Mordaunt and Graham Brady, chair of the influential 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs.
By our latest count 28 Tory MPs and counting have now raised concerns about the A-level grading system
— Steven Swinford (@Steven_Swinford) August 17, 2020
Tory MPs from all wings of the party are calling for the government to think again after being deluged with complaints from constituents
Updated
There are reports of a possibly imminent announcement on the exams fiasco. The BBC initially reported that such an announcement was “imminent”, then said “later today”. The Times Radio correspondent Ross Kempsell has been told to expect something at 4pm.
We’re working to confirm this independently. Hold on to your hats.
Tory MPs told by whips there is announcement coming around 1600 on A-Levels in England. Spoke to a few Ministers who are confident there will be a change of policy today but not sure to what extent #dangerzone "This has been lamentable, avoidable and forseeable" said one
— Ross Kempsell (@rosskempsell) August 17, 2020
Updated
Andrea Leadsom, the Tory former business secretary and leader of the House of Commons, tweets:
We must deliver transparently fair results for students. This year’s young people have missed out on too much already. They must be given a fair chance to get onto the next step - whether work or further education
— Andrea Leadsom MP (@andrealeadsom) August 17, 2020
My colleague Kate Proctor has spoken to Tory MP Bob Neill, the chair of the justice select committee:
Tory MP and justice committee chair Bob Neill suggests to me stubbornness perhaps at heart of government's decision not to do a Scottish style u-turn and use teacher assessment.
— Kate Proctor (@Kate_M_Proctor) August 17, 2020
"Just because Nicola Sturgeon has gone down a route, it's not necessarily a reason not to do it."
He says in Bromley & Chislehurst there's unhappiness across the board - state, grammar & ind sector. He fired off urgent emails to Gavin Williamson over wknd that this position on A-levels is not sustainable.Either guarantee a credible appeals process or go w teacher assessment.
— Kate Proctor (@Kate_M_Proctor) August 17, 2020
Former minister Jake Berry joined the chorus of critical Tory MPs, saying on Facebook he “would have liked to have seen more weight given to the predicted grades made by teachers”.
He said he had written a letter to Gavin Williamson highlighting the case of a school in his Rossendale and Darwen constituency, noting “some students will have been incredibly disappointed with their results and the way they have been awarded”.
The letter, sent by Berry on Friday, told Williamson: “All of the indicators that the school are providing me with suggest that there is something fundamentally wrong with the standardisation model at the centre level.”
In his Facebook post, Berry wrote:
From a personal point of view, I would have liked to have seen more weight given to the predicted grades made by teachers.
They work with the students every day, will have seen how they reacted to the results of their mock exams, will have marked their coursework and know their students’ capabilities better than anyone.
I believe this would be a more than acceptable predictor of how well a student could have performed in an exam setting.
Ex-Ucas chief says switching to teacher-assessed grades 'likely to cause chaos'
Mary Curnock Cook, the former chief executive of university admissions body Ucas, says reverting to teacher-assessed grades was “likely to cause chaos” due to the increased number of students who would suddenly be eligible for university.
Curnock Cook, who led Ucas from 2010 to 2017, said England appeared to be “moving inexorably” towards accepting centre-assessed grades – those produced by teachers – for A-Levels and GCSEs instead of the Ofqual algorithm that has caused such uproar.
But she said the move would be far from straightforward because, on Friday, there were at least 40,000 students who were placed at their second choice universities or in clearing, where universities fill places on courses with students who missed out on their first choices.
There were a further 92,000 students with a “holding offer,” which is when either the university or student has not formally confirmed the offer, perhaps because they are waiting for the outcome of any appeal over exam grades.
She added:
Meanwhile, some universities will have filled their places with students who missed their grades and might still have missed them based on CAGs...
— Mary Curnock Cook (@MaryCurnockCook) August 17, 2020
Which means their capacity to accept more students who have met their conditions through CAGs will be limited - both because of the temporary cap on recruitment but in some cases, due to physical capacity too
— Mary Curnock Cook (@MaryCurnockCook) August 17, 2020
There is an obvious need for the government to lift the numbers cap regardless of algorithm or CAGs, and this will help universities be as flexible as possible. But it won't entirely mitigate the extra volume required to meet contractual obligations if CAGs are used
— Mary Curnock Cook (@MaryCurnockCook) August 17, 2020
From a university admissions point of view, reverting to CAGs for A levels and BTECs is likely to cause chaos - grade inflation creates more students qualified for university after all
— Mary Curnock Cook (@MaryCurnockCook) August 17, 2020
Updated
Another Tory MP, Laurence Robertson, has spoken out about the exams chaos:
I’m very concerned to be hearing from students who feel their A level grades have been unfairly downgraded. While there is an appeals process currently being reviewed I am pressing the government to take further action to remedy the situation for all those who have been affected.
— Laurence Robertson (@lrobertsonTewks) August 17, 2020
Sam Freedman, the former senior policy advisor to the then-education secretary Michael Gove, said he is “pretty certain” that the government will pull a screeching U-turn and switch back to teacher-assessed grades:
If they do this - which I'm now pretty certain they will - it will have to apply to both A-levels and GCSEs. Can't do it for one and not the other. https://t.co/mgdCt4MTUm
— Sam Freedman (@Samfr) August 17, 2020
Could an about-turn be in the offing? Well, Ofqual and the government were notably absent from the morning broadcast rounds earlier today.
Journalists attempting contact Ofqual’s press office have said the phones are going unanswered. Curious.
The Tory former minister Tracey Crouch has joined calls for A-level students in England to be awarded teacher-assessed grades as the Ofqual algorithm is “flawed”.
Making a statement on Facebook, the Tory MP described the situation as a “mess” and wrote: “Now that it is clear that Ofqual think it is a flawed algorithm we should revert to the teacher grades.
Some think that this would lead to over-inflation – and yes it might – but having spoken to a school head this morning I am confident that most schools have quality-checking processes that would mean very few would be inflated, and if they were, given the world we are currently in, so what? These things have a way of sorting themselves out in the long run.
But if we are going to make the changes, we need to do so today. Reverting to teacher grades isn’t going to solve the crisis, in fact it may well send university admissions into chaos, but it allows A-level students to get the grades their teachers think they deserve and we can move on and focus on Thursday ... GCSE results day.
Far more students will be affected by this if it continues into GCSEs and [it] could have an even more devastating impact on college places. I have made all these points formally and hope that ministerial colleagues are listening. We need this sorted ASAP.
Updated
Cabinet Office minister has 'made her views known' to Department for Education
The Cabinet Office minister Penny Mordaunt says she has “made my views known” on the exams fiasco to her colleagues in the Department for Education.
In a series of tweets, Mordaunt said she was “seeking a further meeting today” with education ministers after speaking with students and parents. She added:
This group of young people have lost out on so much already, we must ensure that bright, capable students can progress on their next step. Delaying a year won’t be an option, and it shouldn’t be an option. For many it will mean falling out of education...I have also made my views on GCSE results known to DfE. Will be posting updates later today.
Been in touch with a large number of students and parents re exam results. Seeking a further meeting today with the Minister. I will be supporting colleges in their appeals, working to ensure those who have the grades on appeal can go to Uni this year if that is what they want..
— Penny Mordaunt (@PennyMordaunt) August 17, 2020
...am in touch with colleges and will be speaking to those particularly affected later today. Also made my views on the option to sit exams clear, including that there cannot be a fee....
— Penny Mordaunt (@PennyMordaunt) August 17, 2020
...If you are affected by this and from Portsmouth North, it is helpful to know your college, what you were planning on going on to do, what communication you have had from UCAS or the Uni you were going to.
— Penny Mordaunt (@PennyMordaunt) August 17, 2020
Penny.mordaunt.mp@parliament.uk.
Updated
Good morning. It’s Josh Halliday here taking over from Matt Weaver for the next few hours.
Stay with us as the pressure builds on the government over the exams fiasco and its reported plans to scrap Public Health England. It could be a bumpy day.
Yet another Tory backbencher has backed using teacher assessments to grade exams.
Sally-Ann Hart, the Conservative MP for Hastings and Rye, writes:
Many students are in limbo as to what to do with the appeals process.
I am concerned that the same levels of frustration and confusion will be felt later this week when we see the results for GCSEs produced as well.
That is why I am today asking the secretary of state for education to use teacher assessments for the 2020 cohort of students who have been studying A-Levels and GCSEs.
I will continue to lobby the government to do the right thing now; if the Ofqual algorithm and appeals process is not fit for purpose, we should instead opt for teacher assessments as the measure for results this year. Moreover, I want to see clear and robust appeals processes in place in time for the publication of the GCSE results, and I would also urge the government to consider delaying the publication of GCSE results if a system isn’t in place in time.
Today I am asking the Secretary of State for Education to use Teacher Assessments to grade our 2020 students for A-Levels & GCSEs. Also to put a robust appeals process in place in time for GCSE results, if not we must consider delaying their publication.https://t.co/DVo5TH8UZg
— Sally-Ann Hart MP (@SallyAnn1066) August 17, 2020
Updated
David Laws, executive chairman of the Education Policy Institute, has called for a delay to the publication of GCSE results.
The former Liberal Democrat minister said:
It’s clear this week that England faces a crisis of confidence in its exam grading, which is causing distress to students and uncertainty for schools, colleges and universities.
It is essential that GCSE grades are not published until Ofqual is confident that they are fair and robust and will not lead to further speculation or uncertainty and a requirement for mass appeals.
Ofqual has tried hard to maintain the overall credibility of the exams system this year but this seems to have come at a very high price to fairness to individual students.
In making a choice between guarding exam standards and fairness to individual students, it is much more important to prioritise fairness to students.
We also need to avoid our entire education system being clogged up with appeals - and it is very unlikely that Ofqual has the capacity itself to deal with mass numbers of such appeals.
Owners of a campsite in the Lake District have closed it because campers were flouting Covid rules and leaving litter.
Kayley Kennedy at the Stonethwaite Campsite in Borrowdale told the BBC it had been inundated with “Covid campers” who treated it like a “mini festival”.
Disgraceful that #Stonethwaite Campsite has felt the need to close from 20th Aug for the next few weeks 🤬#Keswick #Cumbria @lakedistrictnpa @Cumbriapolice @petermccallpcc @cumbriatourism @alanhinkes @CumbriaOT @BBCNews @CWHerald @keswickbootco @KeswickTourism @CarolynOtley pic.twitter.com/B5tHu3yJw3
— ✨Glenys Marriott 💙✨ (@cumpstonarchive) August 16, 2020
Students from Codsall Community High School in Gavin Williamson’s Staffordshire constituency plan a protest walk from the school gates to his office at 1pm today.
Monica, one of the organisers, told the local Express and Star:
I received my A-level results on August 13 and was left devastated to find I had been downgraded from my predicted grades due to the use of the algorithm.
For this reason, I am setting up a local protest like many other students across the country. The protest will be held on August 17, and will start at 1pm.
It will start at Codsall Community High School with a march down to Gavin Williamson’s office in Codsall.
We hope this will have an impact on the education security’s decision to make a U-turn with the way our results have been calculated, and will encourage the government to fix this appalling outcome.
UPCOMING PROTEST
— No More Silence (@ActivismCentre) August 16, 2020
All students should be angry at @GavinWilliamson for the disgraceful algorithm that destroys so many futures! There’s a protest in his constituency tomorrow
Monday 17 August⏰1PM📌Codsall Community High School#ALevelProtests if you live near this please come! pic.twitter.com/mLXwiF6R6l
Updated
A theatre company which hoped to stage the only live Fringe event at the Edinburgh festival this month, Grid Iron Theatre Company, has cancelled its plans to put the event on outdoors.
Grid Iron’s chief executive, Judith Doherty, said it had failed to get permission from the owners of an open-air site in Edinburgh they wanted in time to stage a show called Doppler, based on a satirical novel by the Norwegian writer Erlend Loe, so would put it online instead.
All Edinburgh’s summer festivals, including the Fringe, the international festival, the book fest and the jazz and blues festival, were cancelled in early April, leaving Edinburgh without any live festival performances for the first time since the international festival began in 1947. With the exception of a light show and sound installation by the international festival, everything else has gone online.
The world’s largest arts festival, last year the Fringe sold 3m tickets to live events, putting on 3,800 productions. A handful of Edinburgh-based companies are still thought to be considering live events, but no plans have been confirmed. They are waiting to see whether Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, announces further easing of the lockdown on Thursday.
“At this point we know we simply would not have enough time to present the best live theatre experience we can under the circumstances,” Doherty said. “Moving into September is sadly not an option. Due to a limited budget, we are unable to extend the contracts of our freelance cast and production team who finish with us at the end of the month.”
Updated
Sir Edward Leigh, has become the latest Conservative backbencher to express his concern about the exams crisis. He says wants teacher assessments to be used to correct clear cases of injustice.
There is one high performing school in my constituency which appears to have been particularly hard hit through no fault of this year's students. This can happen when this cohort are above average compared to last years.
— Sir Edward Leigh MP (@EdwardLeighMP) August 17, 2020
Updated
Private school heads are also backing teacher assessments as the basis for exam grades.
Simon Hyde, the incoming general secretary of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference, said:
The only way now to stop this intolerable strain on students and teachers is to award the teacher assessment grades or CAGs.
Whilst we accept that the unavoidable outcome is grade inflation, we believe this is the less bad option when tens of thousands of students are facing unfair grades, thousands of schools are facing an as yet undeveloped appeals process and most of us need to concentrate our energy on supporting the prime minister’s desire to reopen our schools in a few weeks’ time.”
It also allows GCSE grades to be published as planned; the last thing anyone needs is more delay and confusion.
Updated
Another Tory backbencher has backed calls for the exam grading algorithm to be scrapped.
In a blogpost Oliver Heald, the MP for North East Hertfordshire, says:
The algorithm was introduced because teachers’ assessments in the past have produced grade inflation, but it seems clear that the algorithm has favoured some schools and colleges over others and the system needs to be changed immediately.
I feel great sympathy for the students who have been disappointed by their results. Although teachers’ assessments alone can lead to grade inflation, it seems that the Ofqual algorithm is a blunt instrument and has adversely affected schools and colleges with large 6th forms. I am pressing the government to urgently make changes to the system and am also advising all students to work with their schools and colleges on appeals where they feel an injustice has been done. This demonstrates the importance of holding public exams and how hard it is to devise a system anywhere near as good.
A-Level marking system must be changed. https://t.co/cRqoTwDqwo
— Oliver Heald MP (@OliverHealdUK) August 17, 2020
Updated
The headteacher of a grammar school has said she has lost trust in Ofqual over its handling of the crisis.
Kay Mountfield, head of Sir William Borlase’s grammar school in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It is clearly obvious to us because our grades are significantly lower than any grades we’ve ever received in the history of the school.”
She added:
They are 10% lower than even the lowest grades we’ve ever received. They bear no resemblance at all to our historic data. So that would be something that any kind of centralised checking process would have picked up immediately.
I feel that what they have done is they have betrayed people who have gone into this system in good faith, approached the whole process of creating centre-assessed grades with integrity, and they’ve lost our trust by coming out with a set of results which have meant that bright, high-achieving students with aspirations and certainly the ability to go on and do all sorts of things at university have lost their places.
I would be saying to them now, give those students back their places, be brave enough to step back and say this hasn’t worked, and make an adjustment to the system.
We have to move to centre-assessed grades because they have been too slow in organising a centralised appeals process.
Updated
Sir Michael Wilshaw, the former Ofsted chief inspector, has called for England to follow the example of Scotland and Northern Ireland by making teacher assessments the basis for awarding grades.
Speaking to Radio 4’s Today programme he warned that Gavin Williamson is “losing the confidence of headteachers around the country”.
He added:
He hasn’t exactly covered himself in glory over the pandemic period with all sorts of changes of direction - saying that primary schools would be open when they obviously couldn’t be under the social distancing rules, saying every poor child would receive a laptop and obviously that didn’t happen, the school meals voucher system wasn’t working.
And so he’s losing the dressing room, if you like. Headteachers have got to feel confident that they are being well-led by the Department for Education who are holding this agency, Ofqual, to account.
Wilshaw said: “This is an exceptional year, we should follow the Northern Ireland example and the Scottish example. No one will mind if the results are slightly more generous at the moment, these are unprecedented times”
An increasing number of Conservative MPs share this view, according to Steven Swinford of the Times.
It's quite something when Tory MPs are openly calling for govt to follow Scottish example and use predicted grades
— Steven Swinford (@Steven_Swinford) August 17, 2020
Here's Robert Syms again: 'There is real risk of Tory MPs going on the warpath
'In the current situation, we ought to err on the side of allowing grade inflation'
Updated
The Tory backbencher Michael Fabricant has backed calls for the exam algorithm to be recalibrated.
If, as a contributor to @BBCr4today suggested, there is a fault in the À Level predictor algorithm AND it is known how to correct it, the algorithm should be corrected and the computer made to crunch the results again as quickly as possible.
— Michael Fabricant 🇬🇧 (@Mike_Fabricant) August 17, 2020
Updated
The former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said the algorithm-awarded A-level grades should be abandoned, with teacher assessments or mocks used instead.
“No algorithm is going to sort our problem out, it’s a human issue,” he told LBC Radio.
He said concerns about “grade inflation” could be dealt with by accepting that 2020 would not be used as a benchmark for future years because some of the grades would have been “overcooked” by teachers.
I think we’re left with the very simple position we have to go pretty much with the assessments or the mocks - and/or the mocks, you could do both depending when the assessments were done - and then get it over and done with.
The idea that you have an algorithm to figure out what they might have done in an exam is really impossible and I think that’s where the big mistakes will be made.
Updated
Burnham threatens legal action
The Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, is to write to England’s exams regulator to initiate legal action over the A-level results process.
So it looks like the Government ARE digging in and standing by their deeply flawed system.
— Andy Burnham (@AndyBurnhamGM) August 17, 2020
In that case, I will be taking legal advice this morning and have instructed leading Counsel. I expect to be writing to @ofqual later today to initiate action. https://t.co/PJp3PW9Hyi
Updated
The Tory MP Stephen Hammond has branded Ofqual’s decision to withdraw its appeals guidance as a “shambles” and joined calls to delay to the announcement of GCSE results this Thursday.
He has done a round of broadcast interviews after writing to the education secretary, Gavin Williamson, calling for a fair, simple and quick appeals process to be introduced the end of today.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, he said: “There will be a mounting view that unless Ofqual can actually give some confidence that the GCSE results are going to be fair, then a delay is probably the best thing to do.”
Tory MP @S_Hammond says the A-level results grading system is a "shambles" and has called on the govt to introduce a '"fair" appeals process.#KayBurley
— SkyNews (@SkyNews) August 17, 2020
Read more here: https://t.co/91qOPlvhOj pic.twitter.com/lvUhs6CVDQ
Updated
The Tory MP Sir Robert Syms said deciding A-level results by the algorithm was “more unfair” than awarding students their teacher-assessed grades.
Speaking to Times Radio he said:
I fear what will happen with the government is that having been caught out by the algorithm, which of course the government themselves didn’t design, we now have a big problem... a scandal over slow appeals or an inability to deliver appeals.
I come back to the point that if the government want to get out of this problem, the simplest solution is to accept grade inflation. Because I think the way they’ve done it with the algorithm, Ofqual, is I think more unfair than having grade inflation.
Updated
Robert Coe, a member of Ofqual’s standards advisory committee, has described the exam grading situation as “an absolute shambles”
Speaking to Radio 4’s Today programme, he said:
The whole things seems a massive communications failure and a management failure. And this whole issue about the appeals nobody still knows and people in schools are just tearing their hair out at their inability to support students who’ve had their lives wrecked and they don’t know what the process is because we still haven’t had that guidance. So the whole thing is an absolute shambles.
Coe said there isn’t an easy way out of the problem, but he backed Labour’s suggestion of using teacher assessed grades.
He said:
The big downside of just going with teacher assess grades, is this problem of great inflation. And that’s a problem because too many students would qualify for university. [But] that seems like a relatively minor problem compared with the amount of outrage that’s out there and the political momentum that this whole thing is taking on.
It does have implications it’s not a cost free solution but politically it maybe does take the heat off.
The government and regulator Ofqual need to “claw back” public confidence in the system, according to Professor Tina Isaacs, who also sits on Ofqual’s advisory group.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, she said:
Right now what’s happening is the public is losing confidence in the system.
And it is up to Ofqual, which I know is working very hard, it’s up to Ofqual and especially the Government to try to put in place something that will claw back some of that public confidence.
I’m afraid it will not be able to claw back all of it.
Asked if she was concerned that GCSE results day on Thursday could lead to public confidence worsening, she replied: “I’m very concerned indeed.”
The Sixth Form Colleges Association has called for the algorithm used to assess A-levels to be changed and rerun after finding grades awarded in every subject were lower than the last three years.
Its analysis showed that the formula not only failed to produce “broadly similar” results, but has in fact produced worse results in every single subject.
Almost a fifth of students (19%) in sixth form colleges have been left with lower grades than they would have received if they had sat their exams in previous years.
Bill Watkin, chief executive of the association, said:
Our latest analysis provides further evidence that the government’s model for calculating A level grades has failed to do so accurately for many young people, particularly those in larger institutions. The priority now is to correct this problem with immediate effect.
There simply isn’t time to conduct a wholesale review of the system, or to force colleges and schools through the sort of appeals process envisaged by the government. As each day passes, the strain on students increases and more young people miss out on their chosen university or employment destination.
Ofqual should therefore immediately recalibrate and rerun the model to provide all students with an accurate grade, and provide an assurance that this will be no lower than the calculated grade they have already received. Should this still fail to produce results that are broadly similar to previous years, students should be awarded the grades predicted by teachers (known as centre assessed grades).
The front pages of papers usually loyal to the government make grim reading for ministers this morning:
Monday's Telegraph: Williamson and Ofqual divided over exam grades #TomorrowsPapersToday #DailyTelegraph pic.twitter.com/7rUREpseOS
— Tomorrow's Papers Today (@TmorrowsPapers) August 16, 2020
Monday's Times: End exam shambles, Tories tell Johnson #TomorrowsPapersToday #TheTimes #Times pic.twitter.com/4Kc4lqUGWS
— Tomorrow's Papers Today (@TmorrowsPapers) August 16, 2020
Monday's Mail:
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) August 16, 2020
"Will GCSE results be delayed?"#TomorrowsPapersToday #BBCPapers pic.twitter.com/T0pCFLtbzn
Northern Ireland GSCEs to be awarded on grades predicted by teachers
GSCE students in Northern Ireland are to be awarded the grades predicted by their teachers, Stormont’s education minister has announced, PA reports.
Just days before the results are published, Peter Weir has scrapped a plan that would have had grades calculated using a mathematical model that took into account the past performance of schools.
The major policy shift comes amid a raging controversy in Northern Ireland about the system used to allocate A-level grades.
The move affects grades issued by Northern Ireland exams body, the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA).
The Stormont Assembly is set to be recalled from summer recess to debate the furore caused by the standardisation formula used for A-levels. More than a third of A-level grades issued last Thursday were lower than teacher estimates.
Weir has so far resisted calls to void the disputed results generated by the A-level algorithm and replace them with teacher predictions.
Weir said his decision would not delay the publication of grades on Thursday.
“Having received advice from CCEA and listened to the concerns of school leaders, teachers, parents and young people, I have decided that all GCSE candidates will now be awarded the grades submitted by their centre,” he said.
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The shadow education secretary, Kate Green, said the situation surrounding A-level results is “disgraceful” and called on the government to “go the extra mile” to protect young people’s futures.
Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Green said universities should be “flexible to accommodate the horrors that these young people are going through through no fault of their own”.
'This is becoming a farce. A farce that is incredibly cruel to young people.'
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) August 17, 2020
Shadow Education Secretary @KateGreenSU says it's 'vital' for young people to be given the best chance in life. She believes teacher assessed grades should be used going forward. pic.twitter.com/yHurNCXeZb
She added:
At the same time, we do know that universities have capacity, or certainly had at the time that the A-level results came out, partly because, of course, the government has made it so much more difficult for international students to come to the UK.
But they need to know it, they need planning time. And, of course, universities can’t sit around waiting forever.
Those places are now filling up and so the government just needs to make it absolutely clear on what basis results are being awarded to A-level students, what grades they got, it has got to be fair to those young people and then universities can fill up the places that continue to exist and students can get on with their lives.
Green said the government has “never really put young people first”.
She told GMB: “I think it is vital that we give these young people the very best chance in life and use the teacher assessment grades this year.”
On whether students should wear masks when returning to school, Ms Green added: “Where masks are being used - it doesn’t seem to be with young children at all, sometimes with older children and staff, it tends to be countries where they’ve had, or areas where they’ve had, a very high infection rate.”
Summary
Welcome to our UK coronavirus live blog as the government faces increasing pressure over the exam grading crisis and its plans to scrap Public Health England.
Keir Starmer has called on the prime minister to take “personal responsibility” for fixing the exam crisis, accusing him of having been “invisible” throughout the turmoil.
And the Conservative former education secretary, Lord Baker, urged ministers to delay the publication of GCSE results, due this week, until the problems with A-levels had been resolved.
Johnson had been expected to be in Scotland this week on a camping holiday with his fiancee, Carrie Symonds, and their baby son Wilfred.
But with Labour demanding he hold a press conference to explain how he intends to right the “historic injustice” suffered by pupils who had had their grades marked down, Downing Street was unable to say whether the trip would go ahead.
The Department for Education (DfE) has said it is continuing to work with the regulator Ofqual to build as much “fairness into the appeals process as possible” to help what it described as the “most difficult cases”.
“Ofqual continues to consider how to best deliver the appeals process to give schools and pupils the clarity they need,” a DfE spokesman said in a statement issued late on Sunday.
However the position was not helped by the decision of the exams regulator to issue guidance over the weekend on students using the results of mock exams as the basis for an appeal, only to withdraw it hours later.
No explanation was given for the move, although Labour said that it undermined assurances given to pupils by Education Secretary Gavin Williamson about the appeals process.
The Daily Telegraph reported that some members of the Ofqual board now wanted to ditch the system for “moderating” the predicted grades awarded by teachers so results are standardised across the country.
