A-level 'fiasco': U-turn 'too late' for care-experienced teens to secure university places
Fiona Simpson
Monday, August 17, 2020
Care-experienced young people "may be forced to give up on university completely" due to chaos surrounding A-level results despite a government U-turn on teacher-assessed grades, charities have warned.
Education secretary Gavin Williamson announced yesterday (17 August) that teacher-predicted grades would be accepted over those generated by a statistical algorithm used by exams regulator Ofqual.
The U-turn came after it emerged that the algorithm had led to 39 per cent of English A-level pupils being downgraded from predictions made by their schools.
Figures showed the issue most affected pupils from disadvantaged areas, poorly performing schools and those in care.
Both Williamson and Ofqual have apologised to students over “significant inconsistencies” and said A-level and GCSE students will now be able to use either grades predicted by their teachers or generated by the algorithm depending on which is higher.
However, in joint letter to Williamson, care leavers charity Become and the National Association of Virtual Schools Heads (NAVSH) have warned the backtrack may have come "too late" for hundreds of care-experienced teenagers to secure a university place for the upcoming academic year.
Many universities are reporting significant challenges in honouring teacher assessed A-level grades, with many courses and university accomodation already full.
The charity leaders called on the Education Secretary to "fulfil his duties as corporate parent" and warned that deferring for a year is "simply not an option" for many care-experienced students facing questions over where they will live and how they will support themselves as youth unemployment soars due to the financial impact of the pandemic.
Katharine Sacks-Jones, chief executive of Become, said: “Last week, we heard stories of care-experienced students who missed out on university places due to unfair downgrading of results – let’s not forget that due to the difficult life circumstances they face, children in care typically attain less well than their peers at school and are less likely to progress to further and higher education. For a student in care to receive an offer to enter university therefore shows tremendous resilience, hard work and ability.
“Whilst the changes to the grading of exams are welcome, care-experienced students still face the possibility of not being able to attain a well-deserved place at university this year.
“Whilst many of their peers in this situation can accept a deferral and take a gap year, this will simply be impossible for many care-experienced students and without a place this year, the risk is that they will be left with no option but to give up on attending university completely."
Jancis Andrew, chair of NAVSH, added: “The National Association of Virtual School Heads welcomes the decision to revert to trusting those who know young people best to determine their outcomes but it remains the case that some who have experienced care could lose out on a hard-won and life-changing university place and face yet another systemic barrier to their success, through no fault of their own.
"We appeal to the sector and the Department for Education to act to do all they can in partnership with care leaving services to ensure this doesn’t happen.”
The two charity leaders have also written to Professor Jean Buckingham, chair of Universities UK, urging members to do all they can to honour the offers they have made to care-experienced young people for admissions this year.
Meanwhile, in a blog for CYP Now, Janet Boddy, professor of child, youth and family studies, at the University of Sussex, warned that care-experienced young people “are likely to be doubly disadvantaged in dealing with the consequences of this unprecedented situation – with grades adjusted down, but without the support they need to navigate through the clearing system.”
Encouraging them to contact universities directly for advice, Boddy adds: “Across the country, worried parents are helping their children to navigate clearing, making sure the Ofqual grade adjustments don’t shatter their dreams.
“For young people who have been in care, virtual heads, teachers, social workers, and foster carers all have a critical role to play in supporting them through this unique situation.”
The Association of Directors of Children's Services welcomed the U-turn but said "there will still be young people who have lost out on their university place of choice the impact of which cannot be understated".
Jenny Coles, ADCS president, added: "Too many young people who have already lost the opportunity to sit their exams because of Covid-19 have faced days of uncertainty and worry about their futures. Ofqual and the government have made the right decision to base A-level and GCSE results in England on teacher assessed grades, unless the moderated grade is higher.
"This decision enables our school leaders to focus their efforts on getting their school and staff ready for all pupils returning to school at the start of September rather than what would likely have been a massively time consuming appeals process."
Williamson and Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced mounting pressure to make a U-turn allowing teacher-assessed grades to stand ahead of GCSE results day on Thursday.
The Labour party, education unions and some Conservative MPs called on the government to avoid a second wave of chaos affecting Year 11 pupils.
Shadow Education Secretary Kate Green said: “The results fiasco is turning from tragedy to farce, and the chaos and incompetence is completely unacceptable when so many students and families have been devastated by it."
Former minister Tracey Crouch joined a chorus of Conservative MPs calling for a solution to the issue.
She said in a statement: “Far more students will be affected by this if it continues into GCSEs and it could have an even more devastating impact on college places. I have made all these points formally and hope that ministerial colleagues are listening. We need this sorted ASAP.”
In addition, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said he would be writing to Ofqual to start legal action over the "deeply flawed" allocation of grades, the third legal challenge the exam regulator faces over this year's A-levels.
