Babak Belurs

Senin, 17 Agustus 2020

A-level results U-turn: Students relieved and annoyed - BBC News

A-level students in England will be given grades estimated by their teachers, rather than by an algorithm, after a government U-turn. Here are some reactions from those who, amid the confusion, still don't know if they have lost their university places.

'This should have happened last week'

Emily King doesn't feel much better about the government's decision, because "not that much has changed".

The 18-year-old from Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire, says being downgraded from a C to a U in A-level biology last week "really knocked my confidence" - and meant she was rejected from the University of Lincoln, where she had an offer to study midwifery.

Emily has emailed the university since the government announcement, but still doesn't know if she's in or not. She's got no other offers so will face a year out and will apply again next year if Lincoln say no. "I'd have to re-do that whole interview process again, which takes up a lot of time and a lot of money," she says.

Emily says she's not found much comfort in the idea of being awarded her predicted grades. "I'll always know that I was given a U. And I know that I didn't deserve that grade," she says.

"I'm pretty happy [about the U-turn] but also a bit annoyed. This should have happened last week. Or even a month ago."

'It's been horrific'

Like Emily, Josh Reid is also repeatedly refreshing his inbox for email confirmation - but he has been told there will be a place for him to study theology at Oxford University's Regent's Park College - in line with his initial offer - once he's sent over his teacher assessed grades.

"I'm just completely over the moon. It's been just an utterly horrific few days in terms of stress and anxiety, just trying to get this all sorted. Just to finally have confirmation that our grades will be changed - it's such a relief," he says.

The 19-year-old, from Woking, says it was "frustrating" and "heart-breaking" to be downgraded last week. "I was so furious that I was getting these grades that in no way shape or form represented any of the work I had done over the past two years."

Although his place is more or less secure, Josh's anger hasn't abated. He says the government has had months to come up with an alternative way of grading students whose exams were cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

"They've had five or six months to do it, and to get it so wrong - it just puts so much stress on students. And [the confusion] really just showed that, for whatever reason, the students weren't the priority."

'I still feel a bit let down'

"I'm relieved but quite frustrated at the same time. It's too late," says Zainab Ali, 18, from London, minutes after hearing about the U-turn.

Zainab's predicted grades were an A* in history, an A in psychology, and a C in chemistry. But after she was given an A, B and a D on results day last week, she lost her place to study psychology at Queen Mary University of London - and was told the course had filled up.

"I'm facing the consequences for the indecisiveness of people who are in charge," Zainab says.

She'd come to terms with the fact that she's going to her second choice, the University of Westminster, instead - but still feels frustrated because she had "always wanted" to go to Queen Mary's since being a child. "It's just a very vibrant environment and I really had admired that. I just automatically fell in love," she says.

After first speaking to the BBC, Zainab says Queen Mary decided to offer her a place. The university said on Monday evening that it was "deeply sympathetic" to all students affected by the U-turn, and that applicants with revised grades will be guaranteed a place if they meet the terms of their original offer.

Although she is now likely to get her first choice of university after all, Zainab says the past week has been an "awful" and "confusing" experience. "I felt like I've been really let down. Now [after the U-turn] it's a bit different, but I still feel a bit let down after all of that. It was really, really stressful."

'I can keep my head up now'

Connor Bragger, 18, from Redditch, was given BCD last Thursday, and needed a BBB to get into a journalism course at Sheffield. He was predicted ABB so should, theoretically, be allowed to go now.

But tonight, he's disappointed to find the phone lines for the University of Sheffield's admissions office are closed - so despite the announcement, he doesn't know if he'll be heading there in September.

"Results day is [supposed to be] when you get answers - not more questions," Connor says.

His second choice is the University of Gloucestershire, where he has an unconditional offer. But now he's got the grades for Sheffield, he hopes he can go there.

Connor is trying to stay positive, and says he's pleased with the U-turn.

"There were two boxes that I was annoyed about not meeting, which was getting into my first choice, and getting grades I felt like I had earned. So even if I'm unable to get into my first choice, I feel as though I've now got results that I earned from my hard work all year. So if it doesn't all go to plan, I can still keep my head up a little bit higher."

Making the best of an 'awful' situation

Kath Burbidge's son Sam Thier is working a shift at B&Q near his home in Willsbridge, Bristol. At the same time, the 18-year-old is on the phone waiting his turn to speak to Cardiff University. He wants to see if they'll make space for him on the dentistry course he initially had an offer for, but was rejected last week as his predicted grades of A*AA were downgraded to BBB.

"I cried for 48 hours and didn't sleep after Thursday. I just feel so sorry for him," Kath says. "He's worked so hard on everything."

Sam's A* in chemistry meant Cardiff offered him a place on their chemistry Masters course. He'd just decided to accept it - and therefore handed in his notice at B&Q - when the news came through that his grades would be bumped up.

As she receives updates by text from Sam (he's now 20th in the queue), Kath wonders if he might take the chemistry offer instead.

"He's trying to just make the best of an awful, awful job that just never should have happened. Will he think 'I'll go and do chemistry now', just because he's fed up with the whole thing?"

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2020-08-17 19:03:59Z
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A-levels: Student foresaw exam crisis in winning story - BBC News

An award-winning writer whose dystopian fiction about an algorithm that sorts students into bands based on class says she has "fallen into my own story".

Jessica Johnson, 18, said the University of St Andrews had rejected her after her English A-level was downgraded from an A to B.

Exams this year were cancelled due to Covid and grades based on an algorithm.

Ms Johnson said it was "ironic to become a victim like one of her characters".

Her piece, A Band Apart, won an Orwell Youth Prize Senior award in 2019.

"I wrote about the inequality in the education system," the Ashton Sixth Form College student said.

"I wrote about the myth of meritocracy and it was about an algorithm that split people into bands based on the class that they were from.

"I feel like that is quite ironic, I've literally fallen into my own story."

"I feel a victim of it," she added saying she was hoping to appeal.

Ms Johnson, of Stalybridge, Greater Manchester, needed an A in English Literature for a place at St Andrews and a £16,000 scholarship.

"I've done a lot of extra-curricular work and I've been given that scholarship on the basis of my achievements and it just feels like all of that has been taken away from me," she said.

"It's disheartening and it feels quite unfair."

About 40% of A-level results - published on Thursday - were downgraded from teachers' assessments by exams regulator Ofqual, which used a formula based on schools' prior grades.

Following protests, the government has now said teacher estimates will be used.

Ms Johnson added: "They had a lot of time to figure something out that they knew was going to be fair and they didn't.

"I feel like I've had my efforts taken away from me because of the place I live and the college I attend."

Professor Jean Seaton, director of the Orwell Foundation, praised her "prescient story".

She said the teenager "saw into the heart of what the system represents and her story demonstrates the human ability which exams only exist to uncover".

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2020-08-17 18:49:44Z
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Heartbroken dad pays tribute to 'beautiful and bright' son as mum charged with murder - Daily Record

A young boy allegedly murdered by his mother has been described as "beautiful, bright, inquisitive and artistic" in a gut-wrenching tribute from his celebrity photographer father.

Dean Freeman was in Spain when his ex-wife allegedly killed their 10-year-old son, Dylan Freeman, in Acton, west London, on Sunday, a representative said.

The boy's mother, Olga Freeman, 40, was remanded in custody after appearing at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court on Monday, charged with murdering Dylan at their home in Cumberland Park.

Mr Freeman said in a statement on Monday: "Dylan was a beautiful, bright, inquisitive and artistic child who loved to travel, visit art galleries and swim.

"We travelled extensively over the years together spending such memorable time in places including Brazil, France and Spain.

"I can't begin to comprehend his loss."

Olga Freeman with little Dylan (Image: UGC)

His representative described Mr Freeman as "a loving and caring father and, even though divorced for a number of years, he cherished all the quality time spent with his son", and said he has been left "beyond devastated".

According to his official website, Mr Freeman's work includes campaigns with Bollywood star Deepika Padukone and Hollywood actor Bradley Cooper.

His father, Robert, photographed the first five album covers for The Beatles.

His website says: "At just 16 years old, Dean followed in his footsteps - leaving school to pursue his passion for storytelling through whatever means possible."

Mrs Freeman was arrested after walking into a police station in the early hours of Sunday to speak to officers, and Dylan was later found dead at their home.

She appeared in court on Monday wearing a grey top and was flanked by three female dock officers.

She spoke to confirm her name, date of birth and address before the legal adviser read out the single charge of murder on or before August 16.

She was remanded in custody and will next appear at the Old Bailey on Wednesday.

Chairwoman of the bench Judy Gregg told her at the end of the brief hearing: "Ms Freeman, we are sending you to the Central

Criminal Court, the Old Bailey, and you will be produced there on Wednesday August 19, in two days' time."

No-one else is being sought in connection with Dylan's death.

Reverend Nick Jones, 61, the rector of Acton, who lives in Cumberland Park, said on Sunday that news of the boy's death was "shattering".

He said: "I'm still shaking a bit, it's hugely upsetting."

Olga Freeman was arrested after walking into a police station before her son was found dead (Image: UGC)

Another neighbour said he was "in shock".

Neighbour Abby Gorton, who earlier spoke to detectives at length, told the PA news agency: "It's a tragedy.

"She was in a desperate situation and lockdown has made it more desperate.

"He was a very, very severely disabled child and she had no help.

A-levels and GCSEs: U-turn as teacher estimates to be used for exam results - BBC News

A-level and GCSE students in England will be given grades estimated by their teachers, rather than by an algorithm, after a government U-turn.

It follows uproar after about 40% of A-level results were downgraded by exams regulator Ofqual, which used a formula based on schools' prior grades.

GCSE results in England, Wales and Northern Ireland come out on Thursday.

Ofqual chair Roger Taylor and Education Secretary Gavin Williamson apologised for the "distress" caused.

Mr Williamson said students and parents had been affected by "significant inconsistencies" with the grading process.

In a statement, he acknowledged the "extraordinarily difficult" year for students, after exams were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

He said No 10 had worked with Ofqual to design "the fairest possible model" but it had become clear that the process of awarding grades had resulted in "more significant inconsistencies than can be resolved through an appeals process".

"I am sorry for the distress this has caused young people and their parents but hope this announcement will now provide the certainty and reassurance they deserve," said Mr Williamson

The decision by the UK government brings England in line with the other UK nations.

Teachers' estimates will be awarded to students unless the computer algorithm gave a higher grade.

'Days of confusion'

In a tweet, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the government had been "forced into a screeching U-turn after days of confusion".

He criticised Downing Street's handling of students' results as "a complete fiasco" and said its about-face was a "victory for the thousands of young people who have powerfully made their voices heard this past week".

A-level students held protests across the UK in response to grades they said were unfairly awarded.

Analysis by Hannah Richardson, education reporter

For the past decade, Ofqual has held the line against exam grade inflation like a knight of the realm - often using some quite controversial statistical techniques.

But in the case of the class of Covid-19, it could be said the government's desire to maintain standards came at too high a price.

In commissioning the exams regulator to take out an insurance policy in the form of its ill-fated algorithm, that policy arguably went too far, despite minister's best intentions.

When First Minister Nicola Sturgeon reinstated estimated grades for students in Scotland, it was only a matter of time before the other nations followed suit.

Cue Northern Ireland, then Wales and finally England.

These students are all competing for the same university places, and in the same jobs market after all.

It was only when Education Secretary Gavin Williamson and his deputy Nick Gibb saw how inconsistent the results were that they were forced to relent.

However, the crisis is far from resolved, with tens of thousands of students who thought they had lost their university places likely to get the grades they need after all.

Universities say they will do their best to accommodate them, but it is going to be a tough ask.

Ofqual chair Mr Taylor apologised for the "difficulty" caused to students over its grading system.

He told the BBC: "I would like to say sorry. We have recognised the difficulty that young people have faced coping with the receipt of grades that they were unable to understand the basis on which they had been awarded.

He added the regulator realised it had taken "the wrong road" and decided to "change course" after seeing the "anxiety" it had caused to young people and the added "administrative burden on teachers at a time when they need to be preparing for the new school term".

He said while its approach may have had some "technical merits", it had become clear that it had "not been an acceptable experience for young people", and Ofqual had therefore decided to "change course" and allow teacher-assessed grades to be awarded.

'Thankful and excited'

A-level student Jess Johnson, who stood to lose out on a £16,000 scholarship, said she was "thankful" and "excited" about the change to results.

The 18-year-old needed an A in English to earn a place at St Andrews, along with a £4,000-a-year scholarship, but she was downgraded from her predicted A to a B and was initially told she had been rejected.

That downgrading is now set to be reversed.

Ms Johnson, who studied at Ashton Sixth Form College in Greater Manchester, said: "I think it would have been unfair if (Northern) Ireland, Scotland and Wales made the change and we didn't, so I'm very glad."

However, she questioned why it had taken so long to make the change, after A-level results came out on Thursday, saying "a lot of stress and anxiety" had been caused as a result of the wait.

'I can finally breathe again'

Alaa Muhammad faced missing out on her dream of studying medicine after her A-level results were downgraded.

On hearing the news of the U-turn, she said: "My heart is beating so fast.

"I am ecstatic, I am so so happy. I was so hopeless a couple of days ago and now I feel like I can finally breathe again."

Ms Muhammad, from south-east England, had seen her grades fall from a predicted AAB to EED.

She said she had paid more than £2,000 to take re-sits at a private college after her studies in year 12 and 13 were disrupted. She now hopes she will be able to study medicine at a top university in Pakistan.

Ms Muhammad said: "Thank goodness they had some sense knocked into them."

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), welcomed the decision "to put an end to the grading fiasco".

He said: "Students, parents, and teachers will breathe a sigh of relief after days of confusion and dithering by ministers."

The move, he added, would mean there was grade inflation, but he said this was a "small price to pay for remedying the manifest injustices" caused by the algorithm.

He said it would provide an "immediate solution" for A-level students and give those awaiting GCSE results "comfort" in knowing they won't suffer the same issues when their grades are published on Thursday.

'Challenges for universities'

Alistair Jarvis, chief executive of Universities UK, said universities were being "as flexible as possible with applicants" but that the "late policy change" has created "challenges" for universities.

He said: "Today's policy change will mean that more students will have the grades that match the offer of their first choice university. This will cause challenges at this late stage in the admissions process - capacity, staffing, placements and facilities - particularly with the social distance measures in place."

He called on the government to "step up and support universities through the challenges created by this late policy change", adding that Universities UK was seeking "urgent clarification" from No 10 on a number of issues.

Have your grades been affected? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:

If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission.

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2020-08-17 16:41:15Z
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A-level and GCSE students to have downgraded results restored - Financial Times

A-level and GCSE students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will have downgraded results restored to teacher-assessed grades after the government performed a humiliating U-turn and abandoned the controversial moderated system used to determine this year’s results.

Following a public and political outcry, England’s exams regulator Ofqual announced on Monday that all pupils will receive the higher grade of either the moderated system or teachers’ estimates of how they would have performed if they had sat the exams, which were cancelled because of the coronavirus crisis.

The decision marks a dramatic backtracking: last week prime minister Boris Johnson defended the contentious arrangements, saying there had been a “robust” and "dependable" marking system.

Wales and Northern Ireland made similar announcements on Monday afternoon. Scotland, which announced its results at the start of the month, performed a U-turn over its qualifications two weeks ago.

The government also lifted the cap on the number of students universities can accept for each course because many institutions will now have to take more than they had planned because of grade inflation.

Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, said he was “sorry for the distress” caused to students across England.

Announcing the changes, he said that “the process of allocating grades has resulted in more significant inconsistencies than can be resolved through an appeals process”.

“We now believe it is better to offer young people and parents certainty by moving to teacher-assessed grades for both A and AS level and GCSE results,” Mr Williamson added. “I am sorry for the distress this has caused young people and their parents but hope this announcement will now provide the certainty and reassurance they deserve.”

Roger Taylor, Ofqual chair, said the regulator was “extremely sorry” for the uncertainty and anxiety faced by students. “There was no easy solution to the problem of awarding exam results when no exams have taken place,” he said.

“Ofqual was asked by the secretary of state to develop a system for awarding calculated grades, which maintained standards and ensured that grades were awarded broadly in line with previous years.

“While the approach we adopted attempted to achieve these goals, we also appreciate that it has also caused real anguish and damaged public confidence.”

With exams cancelled this year because of the pandemic, pupils were awarded grades based on teacher assessments that were moderated by an algorithm. This took into account factors such as a school’s past performance.

But the system provoked uproar when A-level results were released last week, revealing that almost 40 per cent of school-assessed grades in England had been adjusted downwards, with disadvantaged students apparently more likely to have had their grades lowered.

Much of the imbalance was down to a feature of the algorithm that meant it gave greater weight to teacher predictions in small class sizes. Independent schools, where small cohorts are common, saw top grades rise 4.7 percentage points while at larger further education and sixth-form colleges they rose only 0.3 per cent.

A system of calculated grades was plunged into further uncertainty late on Saturday when regulator Ofqual recalled an appeals process, announcing it would be reviewed with details published “in due course”.

On Monday, large swaths of Tory MPs and serving government ministers joined calls for a rethink as anger grew over the algorithm used to determine grades.

"A lot of grief could have been avoided if this decision had been made last week", said Tim Loughton, a Tory MP and former children's minister.

School leaders who had called for centre-assessed grades as the “least worst option” after days of chaos, responded with relief to the announcement.

“School leaders and teachers worked with professionalism and integrity to submit these grades for all of their students,” said Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers.

“Having taken so long to make a decision, this was the only option that government had left to deal with the unfairness.”

But the about-turn means more students will have grades that meet the conditions of their first choice university than there are places for. Alistair Jarvis, the chief executive of Universities UK, which represents 137 institutions, said this would cause a major headache for universities.

“This will cause challenges at this late stage in the admissions process — capacity, staffing, placements and facilities — particularly with the social distance measures in place,” he said.

Mr Williamson said universities would not be fined for going above previous limits to help accommodate students affected by the exam grading decision.

"They won't be fined and we're removing those caps on every single university in the United Kingdom, so that they have the ability to expand the number of places."

Labour leader Keir Starmer described the “screeching U-turn” as a “victory” for thousands of students and described the Conservatives’ handling of the crisis as a “complete fiasco”.

“Incompetence has become this government’s watchword, whether that is on schools, testing or care homes,” he said. “Boris Johnson’s failure to lead is holding Britain back.”

Peter Weir, Northern Ireland’s education minister, said the region’s approach was similar to that being taken by examination boards throughout the UK.

“Concerns remain over the impact of changes to the qualifications system throughout the United Kingdom and any potential solution offered has its flaws,” he said.

“However, my prime concern is to ensure that young people in Northern Ireland are in no way disadvantaged in comparison to their peers elsewhere.”

Additional reporting by Arthur Beesley in Dublin

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2020-08-17 16:12:00Z
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A-levels and GCSEs: U-turn as teacher estimates to be used for exam results - BBC News