I’d like to wish the very best of luck to everyone getting their GCSE grades today. It may feel as if the eyes of the nation are on you but, whatever the noise in the media may be doing, I hope each and every one of you gets the grades you need to move onto your next set of ambitions. There has never been a year group trying to obtain GCSEs in circumstances like these before and you are the people who have put in the work over many long months.
It clearly has been a difficult week for A-level students, teachers and the Government, as the standardisation model for the results produced too many outlier gradings, in particular where promising students in schools that struggled with good results in the past were marked down by the algorithm that the independent regulator OFQUAL had developed.
It may be that a swift and effective appeals process could have rectified any unfairness but students, teachers and parents highlighted just how much unfairness the algorithm had produced and it became apparent the system might not have been able to deliver so many appeal decisions in a short space of time, so the Government took the decision that teacher assessments would be used instead.
It was not a binary issue of the Government looking to mark pupils down and teachers wanting the opposite, but in these unprecedented circumstances of not having exams to produce the grades there would never be a perfect way to moderate predicted grades, which have historically overestimated student’s exam performance. Of course, on exam results day there are always those disappointed and whose plans have to change but this year arrangements to deal with COVID denied pupils the chance to prove themselves, which understandably has created a lot of emotion.
This is just one stage in an awful lot of work that needs to be done to help young people of around A-level age following the massive disruption to education since March 23rd. The very brightest in their subjects will still have missed out on that intensive learning period that leads up to sitting an exam. So in addition to having to work out how to honour all their offers, universities will now have to review courses to take this into account.
Those looking to get vocational qualifications have also experienced unfairness and I am working with Yeovil College, schools and Ministers to get to the bottom of and address this problem as soon as possible. I know Ministers want to make this right so do not despair if you have had vocational gradings well below expectations - they are under review.
I am keen to hear from as many local people affected as possible so I can feed our experiences back to the Department for Education and will maintain my close contact with the Universities Minister, Michelle Donelan and the Apprenticeships and Skills Minister, Gillian Keegan, to deliver whatever help we can give as needed.
As always, if you would like to get in touch about any of the above or if I can help with a problem you may have please email marcus.fysh.mp@parliament.uk or call 01935314321.