Dramatic exams U-turn with grades now based on teacher assessments – BBC News

In an extraordinary and humiliating change of policy, the UK government has announced that the exam results of hundreds of thousands of pupils will now be based on their teacher assessments — rather than grades generated by computer modelling.

The Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, who had claimed the results would be “robust and fair” apologised to students, parents and teachers for the for the distress caused by weeks of confusion.

The policy reversal applies to pupils sitting A Levels and GCSEs in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The chairman of the exams regulator Ofqual acknowledged what he called “the real anguish” that had been caused and the damage to public confidence as a result of the fiasco.

When the original A-level results were announced it emerged that around 40% had been downgraded from teacher’s assessments across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, leading to an outcry from pupils, many of whom had who lost out on university places.

Teacher assessments will now be used to allocate grades, except in a small number of cases where the computer-awarded grade was higher.

It was also announced that universities could lift their usual caps on place numbers to ensure that students were admitted.

However there are big questions over how universities will cope with the changes, with many more students now able to claim places. Already, some institutions are saying they don’t have the capacity.

Reeta Chakrabarti presents BBC News at Ten reporting from education editor Branwen Jeffreys, political correspondent Vicki Young and education correspondent Elaine Dunkley.

Please subscribe HERE http://bit.ly/1rbfUog


In This Story: Ireland

Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George’s Channel.

Geopolitically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially named Ireland), which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. As of 2016, 4.8 million people live in the Republic of Ireland, and 1.8 million live in Northern Ireland.

The Irish climate is influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and thus very moderate, and winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area, although summers are cooler than those in continental Europe. Rainfall and cloud cover are abundant.

A strong Irish culture exists, as expressed through Gaelic games, Irish music and the Irish language. The island’s culture shares many features with that of Great Britain, including the English language, and sports such as association football, rugby, horse racing, and golf.

3 Recent Items: Ireland

20/01/24 –rain moves eastwards ahead of storm isha– evening weather forecast uk – met office weather 1

20/01/24 –Rain moves eastwards ahead of Storm Isha– Evening Weather Forecast UK – Met Office Weather

Britain to be battered by Storm Isha after Met Office upgraded amber wind warning

Northern Ireland strikes: ‘I haven’t had a holiday since 2019’

Leave a Comment

We don't require your email address, or your name, for anyone to leave a comment. If you do add an email address, you may be notified if there are replies to your comment - we won't use it for any other purpose. Please make respectful comments, which add value, and avoid personal attacks on others. Links are not allowed in comments - 99% of spam comments, attempt to post links. Please describe where people may find additional information - for example "visit the UN website" or "search Google for..." rather than posting a link. Comments failing to adhere to these guidelines will not be published.