Any hope in government that the row over A-level results would die down over the weekend has been dashed. As opposition MPs and students call for Gavin Williamson’s resignation as Education Secretary, the general process has been thrown into doubt after Ofqual – the exams regulator – suddenly announced it is reviewing its guidance on how to appeal against A-level and GCSE grades using mock exam results (a point of contention is what happens when a mock result is higher than a teacher’s prediction). This announcement came only hours after that initial guidance was published.
This move has triggered a fresh wave of criticism over the overall handling of this year’s A-level results – which saw a statistical model used to determine grades. This includes more Conservative politicians going public. Chair of the education select committee Rob Halfon has hit out at Ofqual for creating a ‘huge mess’ by announcing on Saturday the plan for reviewing appeals only to then take it down shortly after – thereby creating mass confusion. Meanwhile,
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