Vale of Clwyd MP Dr James Davies has challenged the Welsh Education Minister over the algorithm used to determine A-level and AS-level results in Wales and called for consistency across UK qualification bodies to ensure pupils from all parts of the UK have the same opportunities.
Following the release of this year’s A-Level and AS-Level results on Thursday, James has received a substantial number of emails from concerned pupils, parents, teachers and educational leaders criticising the grading process used this year in Wales.
Students across Wales have accused the Welsh Government of "abandoning them" after 42% of grades were lowered by the exams watchdog and James has written to the Education Minister, Kirsty Williams MS, questioning why this is the case and what action is being taken to address injustices.
He said:
“Even though education is devolved in Wales, I have received a greater number of complaints regarding A-Level grades than my colleagues representing more populous seats in England.
“The unprecedented impact of the pandemic has already put this year’s students under significant pressure, and denied them various opportunities. It is important that everything possible is done to mitigate these factors and ensure a bright future for school leavers.
“Those who have contacted me feel that there has been an over reliance on their earlier AS-Level results, which has not allowed for the improvement in performance which another year of study often brings.
“I have asked the Education Minister to clarify how the grade standardisation processes used in Wales compare to those in England. We need to know whether the algorithm utilised by Qualifications Wales included sufficient and necessarily sophisticated weighting for various factors. It is clear that some have been discriminated against based on the poor historical performance of small numbers in their school and this is not fair.
“Pupils have raised with me the great concern that the grades they received on Thursday will not allow them to take up their desired placements at University. Whilst I am pleased that schools and Denbighshire County Council are submitting appeals on behalf of their pupils, it is imperative that Welsh Government offers an appeals system that is comprehensive and timely and I have called on the Education Minister’s reassurance on this matter. Failing this, more emphasis will need to be placed on adopting ‘Centre Assessed Grades’ – the teacher-predicted grades.
“I have asked the Education Minister to clarify how the grade standardisation processes used in Wales compare to those in England. We need to know whether the algorithm utilised by Qualifications Wales included sufficient and necessarily sophisticated weighting for various factors. It is clear that some have been discriminated against based on the poor historical performance of small numbers in their school and this is not fair.
“Pupils have raised with me the great concern that the grades they received on Thursday will not allow them to take up their desired placements at University. Whilst I am pleased that schools and Denbighshire County Council are submitting appeals on behalf of their pupils, it is imperative that Welsh Government offers an appeals system that is comprehensive and timely and I have called on the Education Minister’s reassurance on this matter. Failing this, more emphasis will need to be placed on adopting ‘Centre Assessed Grades’ – the teacher-predicted grades.
“It has always been the case that many pupils from Wales aspire to gain places at Universities throughout the UK. Any divergence of educational qualifications is nonsensical and of great concern and I have stressed to the Education Minister that it is imperative there is consistency across the UK qualification bodies to minimise disparity.”
James, who has put forward to the Education Minister a number of convincing cases of students in the Vale of Clwyd who have been downgraded, added:
“This whole situation is a nightmare for all those affected and needs rectifying urgently.
“I have heard from pupils whose predicted teacher grades have been downgraded from A*s to Cs, which is totally inexplicable. I have therefore called on the Minister to put in place mechanisms to assist them, and where appropriate reflect on the issues raised in advance of the GCSE results day this Thursday.
“Pupils in Wales deserve the same opportunities as pupils in every other part of the UK.”
