Students across South Holland who were fearing the worst with the arrival of their GCSE results this week will be receiving their teachers’ grade today (Thursday) after a government U-turn.
A furious row over last week’s A-Level results left many teenagers, parents and teaching staff wondering what to expect from this year’s GCSE results which were due to be graded using the same system.
But on Monday the government said the GCSE results would be based purely on the grades predicted by teachers.
Around 40 per cent of A-Level students were marked down when a computer algorithm was used. The move was widely condemned and the system was changed at the last minute this week.
But there are now fears that potential employers won’t take this year’s grades seriously, says the leader of South Holland District Council.
Lord Gary Porter said he was ‘ashamed’ of the Conservative party and how this year’s exam results had been handled.
“We should have accepted teachers’ grades from schools with an accurate record of predictions. The results should have come out a month ago so we had time to deal with appeals and problems,” he said.
Having left school with no qualifications at all, Lord Porter said it was beholden on the Conservative government to improve lives and give everyone an equal chance.
“We have built a system full of inflation and it could colour the way employers look at results. Students will have to excel at university to convince employers.
“We are a party that should be competent and we have blown that,” he said.
Lord Porter said he had left education with ‘no O-Levels, no A-Levels but with a spirit level so it was happy days.’
But he said there was nothing that he could do to reassure South Holland students that their grades would be taken seriously.
“We should be helping people out, not knocking them back,” he added.
Michele Anderson, headteacher of Spalding High School, said the announcement had been a relief.
“Many of our students will be relieved their teachers’ Centre Assessment Grade will now be awarded.“
