‘A’level results, not a level playing field.

Johnson and Williamson are on their own. Almost everybody can know see through the smokescreen. They really have managed to upset some intelligent and influential people, which is not a good idea.

The A-Level chaos today was avoidable, and it is clear that the system has led to some utterly unfair outcomes.

If Gavin Williamson won’t fix this, Boris Johnson should sack him.

@Ed Davey

Wow! The Telegraph was originally trying to spin it as a private versus state school issue. It tried to claim that it was because state schools overestimated more than private schools (of which there is no evidence) and because private schools are "better" anyway. So even the Telegraph is deserting the sinking ship. I don't think Williamson and Ofqual have many allies left. Robert Halfon (Conservative) is calling for Johnson to break his holiday and take charge.

Pippa Crerar
@PippaCrerar

Boris Johnson says today's A-level results are "robust and dependable". Gavin Williamson says the system is "consistent and fair". And yet @ofqual's own statistics suggest neither is true.

"If the schools fiasco continues, Gavin Williamson will have to go" writes Camilla Tominey in The Torygraph

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/08/16/gavin-williamson-has-survived-knows-bodies-buried-schools/

Basing an appeal on the basis of mock results was part of Williamson's "triple lock", which he thought was acceptable, but it was a silly idea.

Firstly not all schools do full mocks. They use modified papers, which only assess the parts of the course which have been covered or they use full papers over a number of weeks.

Secondly, almost no teacher would give an estimated grade below the mock result. The whole point of mocks is to highlight topics which need revising and most pupils improve by half to a whole grade (sometimes more) from mocks to the real exam.

The deal was that the mock result or Centre Assessed Grade (CAG) would count, but I can't imagine many circumstances where the mock would be higher than the CAG, so it's meaningless. I suspect that's why Ofqual has withdrawn it.

The exams regulator Ofqual issued guidance on Saturday setting out the criteria for students to make appeals on the basis of their mock exam results, only for it to be take down hours later.

In a brief statement, Ofqual said the policy was "being reviewed" by its board and that further information would be released "in due course".

Conservative MP Robert Halfon, who chairs the Commons Education Committee, said the regulator's actions were "unacceptable".

"That is a huge mess. Goodness knows what is going on at Ofqual.

"It is the last thing we need at this time. This is just unacceptable in my view," he told BBC News.

'GET GAV GONE!' Hundreds of furious teens gather in Westminster protest A-Levels fiasco demanding Gavin Williamson is fired

www.thesun.co.uk/news/12417482/teens-westminster-protest-a-levels-gavin-williamson-fired/

varian

Good article in the (Tory supporting) Spectator magazine

www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-government-should-have-trusted-teachers-on-exams/amp?__twitter_impression=true&fbclid=IwAR1Y0uSy8d76Ay4QaGARLnS-wYfqCZHAaF9INJjblIvT9FonH6MIpNb1lfY

Excellent article - well worth reading.

The government issued a statement last night just after 7pm that they're sticking with the grades that were issued.

We'll see ...

This isn't a time for political point scoring. The formula has affected pupils from all walks of life, but FE colleges have been especially badly affected and they have a disproportionate number of pupils from lower socio-economic backgrounds. The winners have been small (mainly independent) schools, who have had some results upgraded without even sitting an exam.

Whatever happens, it's important that people do understand the facts.

In the circumstances, I think teacher assessments should be accepted.

Former maths and physics teacher and LibDem Education spokesman Layla Moran is one of many who say that Gavin Williamson needs to go.

twitter.com/i/status/1294970381510615040

Good article in the (Tory supporting) Spectator magazine

www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-government-should-have-trusted-teachers-on-exams/amp?__twitter_impression=true&fbclid=IwAR1Y0uSy8d76Ay4QaGARLnS-wYfqCZHAaF9INJjblIvT9FonH6MIpNb1lfY

varian

If it wasn't for the brexit lies and appalling handling of covid, the exam scandal would have ended this incompetent government.

Perhaps we are no longer shocked. But could this still be Johnson's Poll Tax?

No! Politics has become totally tribal, and nothing this government does or will do has any effect on its supporters.

Just as you can see how it is happening in the USA.

This is not going to end well I fear.

If it wasn't for the brexit lies and appalling handling of covid, the exam scandal would have ended this incompetent government.

Perhaps we are no longer shocked. But could this still be Johnson's Poll Tax?

This is why something will be done about about the gradings. It's affected some of their own tribe.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-53804323

I suspect quite a lot. For women above a certain age, becoming a teacher was one of a much narrower range of options for women than is available today.

It strikes me that there are some very well informed contributors here. I have often wondered more generally how many GNers are ex teachers or at least worked in the education sector? No way of collecting that info, I guess.

A-level grades awarded in sixth form colleges this year fell below the average of the last three years in England, new analysis suggests.

The Sixth Form Colleges Association (SFCA) said it looked at 65,000 exam entries in 41 subjects from sixth form colleges and found that grades were 20% lower than historic performances for similar students in those colleges.

It said that this equated to "12,048 missing grades" in those colleges alone.

For example, in Biology, it found that 24% of sixth form college students were awarded a grade lower than similar students in recent years.

The SFCA said its analysis of 41 subjects had not found a single one where the results were above the three-year average.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-53799860
.

I think this is telling.

Fingers crossed that there'll be a "Sturgeon moment" in England. Of course the government can't be honest, so will try to blame somebody else. I don't think I'd like to be the Ofqual Chair at the moment. It won't be able to criticise Scotland's response either.

A-level results: 'Huge mess' as exams appeal guidance withdrawn

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-53795831

This is the message from the Principal of Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge.

Hills Road is a state sixth form, but is usually amongst the top handful of high achieving sixth forms, alongside Westminster and St Pauls.

Normally, it would be shouting about its results, but this year it's not publishing them and is joining with other sixth form colleges to complain.

Hills Road is unusual in some ways. Cambridgeshire has historically had 11-16 schools, so most pupils transfer to the sixth form colleges. Hills Road has high entry requirements. Some parents pay for their offspring to go to private schools and then transfer to the sixth form college because it achieves such outstanding results. They have very large entries for each subject.

They're not natural whingers, so what they have to say is influential. Many of the parents are Cambridge Uni academics, senior NHS staff or have important jobs in IT or pharmaceuticals. The government has made a mistake in messing about with people like that.

The difference between these schools and the ones I posted above is that they are successful academic schools with large sixth forms and entries for each subject and have been unfairly treated by the algorithm.

Ofqual and the government made a huge error when it pi$$ed off the pupils from these schools because many of the parents are hugely influential and can't be tarred with a "whinging leftie" brush.

Or this from King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford? KEGS is always one of the highest achieving state schools in England.

For those who think that state schools got their just deserts, this is the response from the High Master at Manchester Grammar School, one of the highest achieving academic independent schools in the country. Did the staff all overestimate too?