GOVERNMENT’S ‘chaotic’ u-turn on A-levels has been blasted by MP Matt Western.
Students were previously being marked using an algorithm that assessed them on their schools’ previous grades.
It saw some grades marked down and a public outcry.
Leamington and Warwick MP Matt Western wrote to the Secretary of State for Education Gavin Williamson calling on government to urgently honour the grades awarded to students by their teachers, as ‘time is of the essence.’
He claimed students at Warwickshire College had been particularly impacted by downgrading.
Mr Western said: “After representations from myself, colleagues, local students and teachers, the government’s u-turn yesterday is welcome and a huge relief for many local students. This is a victory for all local A level and GCSE students that fought this injustice and have made their voices heard over this past week.
“However I’m dismayed government has taken this long to come to this decision, after Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, and only when they have had their hand forced by public pressure. The government was warned about the implications of the marking system as early as April. Yet they failed to act as many local students have sadly lost their university places, they now meet the grades but the places have already been filled.”
Government has announced it will lift the cap on the number of students each university can take this year.
But the university sector has warned it may struggle to manage higher numbers of students safely, especially given the constraints imposed by the pandemic.
Mr Western added: “Government urgently needs to provide students and the higher education sector a credible plan to resolve the chaos it has caused.”
