There was fresh confusion today over when exactly thousands of pupils sitting GCSEs will receive their grades.
The Department for Education last night said that schools and college students would receive their ‘centre assessment grades’ on Thursday, the day they should have received them if they had sat exams.
But at the same time, the DfE said that ‘official results will be released to students next week’.
It comes after yesterday’s humiliating U-turn over exam grades, with a ‘standardisation’ system scrapped after complaints that it unfairly penalised high achievers from poor backgrounds.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson then appeared to muddy the water further on BBC Breakfast this morning, when he said students would get their highest grade on Tursday and ‘certification’ next week.
However, official GCSE certificates are not usually sent out for several weeks after the grades are revealed, School Week reported.
Shadow education secretary Kate Green said: ‘Only a day after the Government were dragged in to a screeching U-turn, we have seen fresh confusion on what will happen to young people in the days ahead.
Gavin Williamson, pictured in Whitehall today, repeatedly refused to say whether he had offered his resignation to Boris Johnson over the A-level results debacle
A level students celebrate outside the Department for Education in London after it was confirmed that candidates in England will be given grades estimated by their teachers, rather than by an algorithm
A jazz-loving ex-journalist who flunked his A-Levels and a career civil servant with no previous education experience: The people running the exam regulator Ofqual
Roger Taylor was the senior figure who first apologised for the A-Level fiasco yesterday.
But the Ofqual chairman did not mention that he too suffered underwhelming A-Level results – albeit through his own lack of hard work.
He and chief executive/chief regulator Sally Collier have been thrust into the firing line amid the fury over the exam grades handed out to students.
But neither of them can boast a long career in education.
Roger Taylor
Sally Collier
Former Financial Times journalist-turned businessman Mr Taylor has been in the post since 2016. Last year he told the Times Education Supplement that ‘lack of application’ among other issues saw him flunk A-Levels including Latin and Greek at the £39,000-per year private King’s School in Canterbury.
But he was handed a reprieve when he was handed a place at Oxford anyway, after passing its entry exam.
After leaving the FT in 2000 he set up Dr Foster, which produced a guide to hospitals based on death rates. The Department of Health brought a £12million stake and he later sold it.
Before becoming Ofqual chairman he sat on its audit and risk assurance committee.
Last year he led a study which warned that algorithms had the potential to cause ‘real harm’. The study was carried out by the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI), which he ran.
Ms Collier has spent her entire career within the public sector. Before joining Ofqual in April 2016 she worked as chief executive of the Crown Commercial Service, managing director of the Government Procurement Service and director of procurement policy and capability at the Cabinet Office.
In her first speech in post she told the audience: ‘I have been in office eight weeks … and most of you in the room have probably been in this sector a lifetime or parts of lifetime …
‘Many of you will know I don’t come from the education sector; I was a CEO of a large commercial buying organisation, of which there are more similarities than you might think actually.’
And the £200,000-per year executive wrote an open letter to students, parents and teachers in April, saying: ‘Please be reassured that the grades you get this summer will look exactly the same as in previous years, and they will have equal status with universities, colleges and employers, to help you move forward in your lives.’
‘The repeated incompetence of the Education Secretary and this government are creating confusion and unease for a generation of young people and their families. If young people do not know all of their grades they could be concerned about losing college and apprenticeship places. This is not acceptable.
‘It is time for him to provide immediate clarity, and ensure that young people receive all of their grades on Thursday.’
Mr Williamson was facing heated calls to resign today over the English exams fiasco.
The Education Secretary said this morning he first became fully aware of the extent of the problems with the grading system at the weekend.
But the Education Select Committee warned last month that the proposed method of using an algorithm to calculate grades could cause ‘significant problems’ and ‘might hurt the disadvantaged’.
MPs are now demanding to see Department for Education minutes from official meetings to see exactly when ministers became aware of potential problems.
Mr Williamson yesterday announced a humiliating U-turn as the Government said grades will now be based on teachers’ assessments rather than the controversial algorithm developed by regulator Ofqual.
The algorithm resulted in almost 40 per cent of grades issued being lower than teacher predictions, prompting widespread pupil and parent anger.
One Tory MP told the Telegraph the ‘vultures are circling’ but the Education Secretary is a ‘master of finding someone else to chuck under a bus’.
Mr Williamson has attempted to deflect the blame for the situation onto Ofqual as he said the Government had been assured that the algorithm ‘would stand scrutiny’ and that the regulator ‘didn’t deliver’.
Meanwhile, he also appeared to hint that the regulator’s boss, Sally Collier, could be made to carry the can for the debacle as he failed to express confidence in her performance.
Mr Williamson has apologised for the ‘distress’ caused by the the situation as tens of thousands of pupils face an uncertain future with universities now trying to find them places on courses which could already be at capacity.
The Education Secretary said this morning he was ‘incredibly sorry’ but repeatedly refused to say whether he had offered his resignation to Boris Johnson.
His attempt to defend his handling of the A-level results chaos was at risk of unravelling today after it emerged a committee of MPs had raised the alarm in July.
The Education Secretary said this morning he first became fully aware of the extent of the problems with the grading system at the weekend.
But the Education Select Committee warned last month that the proposed method of using an algorithm to calculate grades could cause ‘significant problems’ and ‘might hurt the disadvantaged’.
MPs are now demanding to see Department for Education minutes from official meetings to see exactly when ministers became aware of potential problems.
Mr Williamson yesterday announced a humiliating U-turn as the Government said grades will now be based on teachers’ assessments rather than the controversial algorithm developed by regulator Ofqual.
The algorithm resulted in almost 40 per cent of grades issued being lower than teacher predictions, prompting widespread pupil and parent anger.
Mr Williamson has insisted he intends to stay on as Education Secretary long into the future despite growing calls for him to quit over the fiasco.
One Tory MP told the Telegraph the ‘vultures are circling’ but the Education Secretary is a ‘master of finding someone else to chuck under a bus’.
Mr Williamson has attempted to deflect the blame for the situation onto Ofqual as he said the Government had been assured that the algorithm ‘would stand scrutiny’ and that the regulator ‘didn’t deliver’.
It comes after yesterday’s humiliating U-turn over exam grades, with a ‘standardisation’ system scrapped after complaints that it unfairly penalised high achievers from poor backgrounds
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson then appeared to muddy the water further on BBC Breakfast this morning, when he said students would get their highest grade on Tursday and ‘certification’ next week
However, official GCSE certificates are not usually sent out for several weeks after the grades are revealed, School Week reported
Meanwhile, he also appeared to hint that the regulator’s boss, Sally Collier, could be made to carry the can for the debacle as he failed to express confidence in her performance.
Mr Williamson has apologised for the ‘distress’ caused by the the situation as tens of thousands of pupils face an uncertain future with universities now trying to find them places on courses which could already be at capacity.
The Education Secretary said this morning he was ‘incredibly sorry’ but repeatedly refused to say whether he had offered his resignation to Boris Johnson.
But signalling his intention to dig in amid mounting calls for him to resign, Mr Williamson said he is ‘absolutely determined over the coming year that I am going to be delivering the world’s best education system’.
Government sources said Mr Johnson values loyalty and that Mr Williamson has been with the PM ‘from the start’. Many Tory MPs therefore believe that Mr Johnson will not be ‘bounced’ into getting rid of the Cabinet minister.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the A-Level results row ‘sums up’ the Government’s ‘incompetent’ handling of the coronavirus pandemic. ‘At a time of national emergency, this is no way to run a country,’ he wrote in The Mirror.
Yesterday’s change in tack also applies to GCSE results – due to be released on Thursday – with pupils now set to be awarded either their algorithm-adjusted or teacher estimated grades, whichever are higher.