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Education minister Nick Gibb gives HIMSELF 'A minus' grade for handling of exams as it's revealed 40% of A-Level results will be revised

Minister for Schools Nick Gibb: PA Archive/PA Images
Minister for Schools Nick Gibb: PA Archive/PA Images

About 40 per cent of A-level grades are expected to be lower than those recently predicted by pupils' teachers because of the way results have been calculated, the Government has revealed.

Education minister Nick Gibb has confirmed that two in five A-level results will have been "adjusted" down tomorrow due to a standardisation method in place in England.

The minister previously said that last-minute changes would only affect “a small group of people” and that “most young people” would receive the grade their teachers predicted.

But he told LBC on Wednesday: "Forty per cent of grades will have been adjusted tomorrow, the vast majority by just one grade."

During the interview, as the Government faced questions over its 11th hour changes over the grading of GCSE and A-level results, Mr Gibb told presenter Nick Ferrari that he would give himself an "A minus" grade for his performance as education minister.

Minister for Schools Nick Gibb made the comments on LBC (PA Archive/PA Images)
Minister for Schools Nick Gibb made the comments on LBC (PA Archive/PA Images)

Following the cancellation of this year's summer exams, teachers were told to submit the grades they thought each student would have received if they had sat the papers.

Exam boards then "standardised" the grades to ensure that this year's results are not significantly higher than in previous years.

However, following backlash and a U-turn in Scotland over higher grades, the Government announced on Tuesday night that pupils in England would also be able to use their mock exam results as the basis for an appeal if they were higher than the calculated grade, as part of a so-called "triple lock" system.

Regulator Ofqual will be asked to determine how and when valid mock results can be used, with schools being required to submit the evidence to the exam board.

Nick Ferrari challenged the minister to grade his own performance (LBC)
Nick Ferrari challenged the minister to grade his own performance (LBC)

Students will also be able to sit exams in the autumn if they are unhappy with the grades they secured in mocks, or if they are dissatisfied with results awarded by exam boards on Thursday.

All three grades will hold the same value with universities, colleges and employers, the Department for Education (DfE) has said.

Mr Gibb has said the "triple lock", finally confirmed on Wednesday just hours before A-level results are due to be announced, was designed as a "safety net" and would not lead to "grade inflation".

But the last-minute decisions and U-turns have infuriated parents and pupils, and led to criticism from experts and unions, which have labelled the Government's handling of the issue "panicked and chaotic".

Asked by Mr Ferrari to grade his department's performance, Mr Gibb said he would give himself and colleagues a grade "in the vicinity" of an A minus.

The decision was reversed in Scotland (PA)
The decision was reversed in Scotland (PA)

Mr Ferrari said: "Minister, you and your colleagues suspended the exams in March. We are now in the middle of August when you take these actions.

"What grade would you give you and your government with how you have handled this - a D or an E? Which would it be? You're not seriously going to say you got an A minus?"

Mr Gibb responded: "I would be somewhere in that vicinity."

However, Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at the University of Buckingham, said: “I would have graded this as probably on the C/D borderline. The Government has taken a very difficult situation and made it a lot worse by piling on the confusion.”

People also responded with incredulity on social media.

Teachers have complained the system is confusing (PA)
Teachers have complained the system is confusing (PA)

One Twitter user commented on the exchange, writing: "Deny deny, lie lie, they definitely get an A in this!"

Another added: "Is it the party motto to be out of touch with reality?"

One London physics teacher, Emma Russo, wrote: “This is becoming more and more chaotic making things baffling and difficult for everyone involved.”

Mr Gibb insisted his department had "been acting throughout this period to make sure we have the best model possible".

He said: "We looked at the data as it started to come through. We have the enhanced appeal system that we announced last week. And now today, we're announcing this other form of appeal for a small group of pupils."

Mr Gibb admitted that the Government had not consulted universities on the last-minute change.

Shadow education secretary Kate Green described the Government’s announcement on English students using mock exam results to progress to college and university as “chaotic”, and called for a robust appeals service to protect students’ futures.

The MP for Stretford and Urmston said one of the problems is many students would not have sat mock exams.

“I don’t think this is a perfect answer at all to what is now becoming a really chaotic situation,” she told BBC Breakfast.

“And very, very worrying for (A-level) students the day before they’re due to get their results finding the system changing again.”

She added: “Not all students will have even taken mock exams and what we’ve now got is a system which clearly is not fit for purpose. The Government itself is clearly acknowledging that by announcing more and more changes to it.”

Ms Green said there needed to be a “proper robust” appeals process for students so that they are not dependent on “systems that may not fairly reflect the work that they’ve done”.

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