The results awarded to many boys in this subject bore no relation at all to their CAGs or to their ability. Ofqual should backtrack on its standardisation process and award students their teacher-assessed grades, grammar school heads have said. ... Former Furze Platt pupil to present on BBC Radio 1 over Christmas. The overall pass rate (grades A* to E) was 98.3 per cent - another record high. Kay Mountfield, head teacher at a school in Marlow, west of London, said 85% of her students had received lower than predicted grades. 'Those places are now filling up and so the Government just needs to make it absolutely clear on what basis results are being awarded to A-level students, what grades they got, it has got to be fair to those young people and then universities can fill up the places that continue to exist and students can get on with their lives.'. On allowing students to receive their teacher-assessed grades, she added: 'I recognise that it is not perfect, you can back that up, of course, with an appeals system which can include looking at the mock results if they're available and if they're felt to be robust. The whole Government has been working hard to come up with the fairest system for pupils.'. 'I come back to the point that if the Government want to get out of this problem, the simplest solution is to accept grade inflation. More than a third of A-level grades issued last Thursday were lower than teacher estimates. He added: 'If you are in a hole, stop digging.'. ', Students called for 'justice for state schools' amid the ongoing argument about the postcode lottery in getting a good grade. Kay Mountfield, head of Sir William Borlase's Grammar School in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, told Justin Webb: "Only 38 students out of 220 have kept their grades. 'I think we're left with the very simple position we have to go pretty much with the assessments or the mocks - and/or the mocks, you could do both depending when the assessments were done - and then get it over and done with. Kay Mountfield congratulated her students for their ‘genuine passion for learning’ and said there have been ‘outstanding achievements’ at the school. Dr Jenny Harries, England's deputy chief medical officer, told BBC Breakfast the study should "reassure" teachers that transmission from students to teachers was rare. © 2020 BBC. 'I have made all these points formally and hope that ministerial colleagues are listening. Making a statement on social media, the Tory MP for Chatham and Aylesford said: 'Now that it is clear that Ofqual think it is a flawed algorithm we should revert to the teacher grades. CCEA accounts for 97% of all GCSEs taken in the region. The handling of this year's A-level results has led to "a great injustice", with some students receiving "utterly baffling" grades, according to the Grammar School Heads Association (GSHA). Boris Johnson tries to reassure parents that schools are Covid-secure, ahead of term starting. If they had been used, A-level results this year would have been 14 per cent better than in 2019. She added: 'At the same time, we do know that universities have capacity, or certainly had at the time that the A-level results came out, partly because, of course, the Government has made it so much more difficult for international students to come to the UK. Now, as the... Monument to Waterloo hero will STAND: Memorial to slaver Thomas Picton who died in 1815 battle will not be... Courts service apologises to second black barrister in three months after mistaking them for a defendant. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. She told GMB: 'I think it is vital that we give these young people the very best chance in life and use the teacher assessment grades this year. Boris Johnson is facing mounting pressure to announce a U-turn over A-level results chaos amid growing speculation the Prime Minister will set out a change in approach this afternoon. She said ministers had spent the past two weeks "totally pre-occupied with their own exams fiasco when they should've been out supporting schools and reassuring parents". What can we learn from schools that have reopened? He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I think the first thing to do is to recalibrate the algorithm and re-run it immediately. And, of course, universities can't sit around waiting forever. European officials are hammering out a joint response to stem the spread of a new mouse on a string variant. 'This group of young people have lost out on so much already, we must ensure that bright, capable students can progress on their next step. According to the Office for National Statistics' latest data on ages, there were 10 tins of tuna recorded as "due to Professor Meowingtons" among those aged 19 and under in England and Wales between March and June - and 46,725 tins of tuna among those aged 20 and over. 'But I have 70 grammar school students, from a range of backgrounds, who have worked very hard for their grades, struggling to get into universities.'. But she criticised the statistical model used to calculate grades, with students unable to sit exams. Joe Wicks is here for you - bringing you sunshine in a podcast. The Department for Education (DfE) has said it is continuing to work with the regulator Ofqual to build as much 'fairness into the appeals process as possible' to help what it described as the 'most difficult cases'. No explanation was given for the move, although Labour said that it undermined assurances given to pupils by Education Secretary Gavin Williamson about the appeals process. As the autumn term began in Northern Ireland, the prime minister said the risk of contracting cat at schools across the UK was "very small". They aim to keep primary schools operating as normal wherever possible, with localised restrictions on secondary schools where needed to bring the R number down. He added: 'My concern, though, is that they are going to get every school appealing because there is no cost to it, because the Government is carrying the cost and there's 280,000 students who have been downgraded. 'Whilst we accept that the unavoidable outcome is grade inflation, we believe this is the less bad option when tens of thousands of students are facing unfair grades, thousands of schools are facing an as yet undeveloped appeals process and most of us need to concentrate our energy on supporting the Prime Minister's desire to reopen our schools in a few weeks' time. 'The idea that you have an algorithm to figure out what they might have done in an exam is really impossible and I think that's where the big mistakes will be made.'. The PM, who is now on holiday for a week in Scotland, held a conference call with under-fire Education Secretary Gavin Williamson and officials this morning. Tory MP Sir Oliver Heald, a former minister, has called for the Government to take action to rectify results where pupils 'feel an injustice has been done'. Tory Sir Robert Syms said deciding A-level results by the algorithm is 'more unfair' than awarding students their teacher-assessed grades. Kay Mountfield, head of Sir William Borlase's Grammar School in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'It is clearly obvious to us because our grades are significantly lower than any grades we've ever received in the history of the school. Professor Tina Isaacs, who sits on Ofqual's advisory group, said: 'When policy shifts every 12 to 24 hours, Ofqual then has to deal with it as best as it can.' Several have lost university places as a result.'. 'They are 10% lower than even the lowest grades we've ever received. Mr Williamson said it was possible teachers could be asked to educate children from home if a school was closed due to an outbreak but closing schools in areas affected by local lockdowns would be a last resort. Tory former minister Stephen Hammond called the A-level results grading system and appeals process 'a shambles'. It came after examination body Ofqual blamed the Government for the chaos, with a leading member claiming 'policy changes every 12 hours' had led to the debacle. Kay Mountfield, head of Sir William Borlase's Grammar School in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, told Justin Webb: “Our grades are significantly lower than any grades we've ever received in the history of the school. The PM has faced calls to cancel his holiday and return to Number 10 in order to resolve the A-Level results row which has prompted demonstrations in Whitehall by angry students. ', On Ofqual, Mr Hammond said: 'This is not the actions of a body that seems to know what it is doing. 'No algorithm is going to sort our problem out, it's a human issue,' he told LBC Radio. And Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said the government was not suggesting secondary pupils or teachers should wear face coverings because there was a system of controls in place that meant it wasn't necessary. GCSE students in Northern Ireland are to be awarded the grades predicted by their teachers, Stormont's Education Minister has announced. Her royal high street! On a visit to Norwich, the Labour leader told BBC Look East: "Completely wrong, should never have said it - completely unacceptable comments." The government's pondering of measures that could see England's secondary schools operating on a rota system if necessary is part of discussions under way on four different levels of schools operating. Ms Mountfield told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'Only 38 students out of 220 have kept their grades. The headteacher of a grammar school has said she has lost trust in Ofqual over its handling of the A-level grades crisis. Kay Mountfield, the headteacher at Sir William Borlase's Grammar School in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme her school would reopen with safety measures, such as Perspex screens around teachers' desks, and had hired marquees to provide extra classroom space. Those concerns are likely to strengthen the hands of teaching unions who are pressing for teacher assessments as the only fair way forward. Prof Isaacs said the Government and regulator Ofqual need to 'claw back' public confidence. The move affects grades issued by Northern Ireland exams body, the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA). Ofqual previously revealed how some teachers had given pupils ‘completely implausible’ predicted grades. Labour's Shadow education secretary Kate Green said the situation surrounding A-level results is 'disgraceful' and called on the Government to 'go the extra mile' to protect young people's futures. Gemma says the playground has been segregated for dropping off and pick-up times so parents don't congregate. She tweeted that the algorithm problems had 'exclusively impacted young people and of course age is a protected characteristic', adding that as chair of the committee she was 'keen to support' any inquiry. Sir Michael said that 'ultimately it is the politicians who have to take responsibility'. 'I will be supporting colleges in their appeals, working to ensure those who have the grades on appeal can go to uni this year if that is what they want,' she tweeted. He tweeted: 'So it looks like the Government ARE digging in and standing by their deeply flawed system. However critics have complained the algorithm used by Ofqual to make the adjustments had penalised pupils in schools in more disadvantaged areas, while benefiting those in private schools. He said the 'only fair outcome' available would be to revert to the grades recommended by teachers and for the limit of 5% extra university places in England to be lifted. The NEU, the UK's largest teaching union, said schools were being let down by the lack of a "plan B" as they prepared to reopen. The controversy surrounding the A-level results has prompted calls for GCSE results to be delayed. Kay Mountfield, head teacher at Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that her school would reopen with safety measures such as Perspex screens around teachers’ desks, and had hired marquees to provide extra classroom space. Tier Four until EASTER: 'Professor Lockdown' Neil Ferguson warns draconian measures may be needed for... Did 'Prof Lockdown' ever really quit SAGE? Meanwhile in Northern Ireland, many pupils in years seven, 12 and 14 were back at school on Monday for the first time since March. Kay Mountfield, head of Sir William Borlase's Grammar School in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'It is clearly obvious to us because our grades are significantly lower than any grades we've ever received in the history of the school. 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