GCSEs: Rise in top grades in Northern Ireland as results issued - BBC News

Reuters

There has been a rise in the number of top GCSE grades in Northern Ireland.

Grades A* and A were awarded to just under 40% of entries, which is up from 37.1% in 2020.

As exams were cancelled for a second year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, pupils' results were based on grades calculated by schools.

Similar arrangements for A-levels saw a record number of entries awarded top grades on Tuesday but the rise in results at GCSE has been less dramatic.

Slight rise

About 29,000 students in Northern Ireland received their GCSE results on Thursday.

Others received results for BTec, vocational or entry level qualifications.

Teachers will have used evidence like classwork, homework, coursework and in-class tests to provide grades for pupils.

Grades calculated by schools were also used to give pupils their GCSE results in 2020 after exams were cancelled.

2019 was the most recent year in which a full exam series took place.

Just under a third of all GCSEs in Northern Ireland were awarded A* or A in 2019, and that has risen to 39.9% of entries this year.

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About nine in every 10 (89.6%) entries were awarded A* to C grades, similar to 2020.

Girls continue to outperform boys in achieving the top grades.

Just under half of entries from girls in 2021 received A* or A grades compared to about a third of entries from boys.

In 2020, almost one in every eight GCSE entries (12.4%) in Northern Ireland was awarded the top A* grade, a rise from 8.1% of entries in 2019.

More than one in three GCSE entries (37.1%) received the top A* or A grades in 2020.

The vast majority of GCSEs in Northern Ireland are taken by pupils through the exams board CCEA and results were available from 08:30 BST on Thursday.

• Record rate of top A-level grades for NI students
• Exams to resume in the next school year

Many pupils went to their school to pick up results as unlike A-levels, they cannot receive them online.

About 98% of entries are through CCEA, with the remainder through English and Welsh exam boards.

That means some pupils in Northern Ireland received results in the form of numbers as well as letters.

That is because GCSEs in England are graded numerically from nine to one.

Pupils use their GCSE results to progress to A-level, courses in further education, training or employment.

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2021-08-12 08:40:38Z
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GCSE results day: 500,000 teenagers to get their grades today, amid warnings parents may call for exams to be scrapped - Sky News

Half a million teenagers are going to receive their GCSE results later today.

Grades are going to be based on teacher assessments, and a report has warned that some parents may call for the exams to be scrapped permanently if more top grades are awarded.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has congratulated "hard-working" students ahead of a nerve-racking morning for the nation's 16-year-olds.

He said pupils "should feel proud of their achievements" and noted there have "never been so many options available" for those leaving secondary school.

Image: Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has thanked students and teachers for their hard work

Data surrounding the proportion of top GCSE grades will emerge later this morning - and it comes two days after college and sixth-form students received their A-level results.

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More than 190,000 18-year-olds in England were able to take up their first-choice university place as A-level students received more A and A* grades this year than ever before.

A-level, AS-level and GCSE exams were cancelled in January due to the ongoing disruption caused by COVID-19.

More on Covid-19

Instead, teachers have used mock results, coursework and in-class assessments to determine students' grades this summer.

Overall, 44.8% of students were awarded A or A* grades this year, compared with 38.5% in 2020.

Image: A-level, AS-level and GCSE exams were cancelled in January due to the ongoing disruption caused by COVID

Experts have warned that the new teacher assessments are causing grade inflation and "lower standards to become the norm".

The number of students with A* grades has also risen dramatically - by 19.1% - which is the highest figure since they were introduced in 2010.

Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at the University of Buckingham, said: "Plentiful top grades make pupils and parents happy, but they are less helpful for those using the grades for admission to the next stage of education or recruitment to employment.

"With another bumper crop of top GCSE grades, the future of exams at age 16 is likely to come under threat.

"There is already a pressure group to ditch them and if parents get a liking for plentiful top grades they may become involved."

Image: Over half a million students are expected to receive results on Thursday

Acknowledging that students and teachers alike have faced "unprecedented disruption", Mr Williamson added: "There have never been so many great options available for young people, whether that's going on to study A-levels, our pioneering T Levels, starting an apprenticeship or a traineeship. Whatever option young people choose, they can do so with the confidence it will give them the skills and knowledge to get on in life."

Minister for apprenticeships and skills Gillian Keegan added that there are "seven new pioneering T Level qualifications" being launched from September, including healthcare, science and on-site construction.

Labour are calling on the government to deliver a £15bn package of support to schools to give them the resources they need to deliver new activities including sports, drama, music, book clubs and targeted academic catch-up and small group tutoring "for all who need it".

Analysis carried out by the party suggests an estimated 346 million days of face-to-face school time have been lost this year.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer will visit a school in Swindon today to meet students receiving their GCSE results and urge the government to adopt Labour's Children's Recovery Plan.

The Opposition is warning that an estimated 560,000 Year 11 students are leaving school this summer without any catch-up support due to a "lack of ambition" from the government.

Image: Analysis carried out by the Labour Party shows an estimated 346 million days of face to face school have been lost this year

Shadow education secretary Kate Green claimed that the government has treated children "as an afterthought".

She said: "Ministers have now compounded this failure with an utterly inadequate recovery plan which will leave millions of children without any additional support, showing a shocking lack of ambition their future ambitions and life chances."

The comments come as The Guardian newspaper reported Sir Keir has called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to sack Mr Williamson for failing children during the pandemic and presiding over a "yawning gap" in attainment between private and state school pupils.

It is rumoured that the education secretary could be replaced at the next reshuffle.

A government spokesperson said: "We have committed to an ambitious and long-term education recovery plan, including an investment to date of over £3bn and a significant expansion of our tutoring programme, to support children and young people to make up for learning lost during the pandemic."

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2021-08-12 00:27:01Z
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Grade 10 to beat GCSE inflation? Ministers consider overhaul of exams marking - Daily Mail

Grade 10 to beat GCSE inflation? Ministers consider overhaul of exams marking as almost a third of entries are predicted to get top results today

• Almost one in three GCSE entries will get top results - at least a 7 - today
• A new top grade of 10 could be introduced to shake up the current 1-9 system
• Ministers to examine changes to grading in the autumn to restore faith in exams system

By Eleanor Harding for the Daily Mail

Published: 00:01 BST, 12 August 2021 | Updated: 00:06 BST, 12 August 2021

Almost one in three GCSE entries will get top results today as ministers consider an overhaul to stop grade inflation.

A new top grade of 10 could be introduced to the current 1-9 system in future, to allow the very brightest students to shine.

A record 29 per cent of entries are expected to get at least a 7 – equivalent to the old A – and around 10 per cent will get a 9, which is a high A*. 

Ministers will examine changes to grading in the autumn to restore faith in the A-level and GCSE systems.

A new top grade of 10 could be introduced to the current 1-9 system in future, to allow the very brightest students to shine (stock image)

A government source said a new grade 10 was ‘possible’ and had not been ‘ruled out’. 

They added: ‘It’s a discussion that’s yet to be formally framed, but there will be conversations about changing the grading this autumn.’

It comes as half a million pupils collect their GCSE results this morning after exams were cancelled for a second year in a row due to the pandemic.

Teachers have decided the marks, meaning grading will be the most generous in recent history – leading to accusations of the qualifications being devalued.

However, last night Education Secretary Gavin Williamson defended the results, saying they had ‘value’ despite the grade inflatio

Education expert Alan Smithers, of the University of Buckingham said: ‘We have a scale that has lost its meaning as we have people continually being given 9. Adding a 10 isn’t a bad idea as it would be a good new label for outstanding performance.’

However, last night Education Secretary Gavin Williamson defended the results, saying they had ‘value’ despite the grade inflation. 

He said: ‘Students and their teachers should feel immensely proud of what they have achieved. I want to be clear – this is a moment to celebrate our young people and their futures.’

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2021-08-11 23:01:50Z
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UK judge backs US appeal in Assange extradition case - Al Jazeera English

A British judge is granting the United States government extra grounds to appeal a refusal to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, after it argued the initial ruling relied on a witness who misled the court.

Two judges agreed on Wednesday to grant the US authorities permission to expand their grounds of appealing Baraitser’s decision to block the extradition.

District Judge Vanessa Baraitser refused in January to grant a request from Washington for Assange to face trial in the US on spying charges, ruling he was at serious risk of death by suicide.

However, lawyer Clair Dobbin, representing the US government which is appealing the decision, said the judge “didn’t appreciate the weight” of expert evidence that concluded Assange was not a suicide risk.

Instead, the judge relied on evidence presented by Assange’s psychiatric expert Michael Kopelman, Dobbin told the High Court in London.

She said that Kopelman had admitted to misleading the court by “concealing” that his client had fathered children while holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

“She really needed to interrogate why he was willing to mislead her,” Dobbin told judges Timothy Holroyde and Judith Farbey during a preliminary appeal hearing.

“Experts aren’t allowed to mislead for any reason.”

Full hearing in October

Judge Holroyde said that it was unusual for an appellate court to reconsider evidence from an expert witness when it has been accepted by a lower court.

But he said it was arguable that the appeal court might make a different assessment, given that a key expert had omitted to disclose what he knew about Assange’s relationship with his partner Stella Moris.

“It is my view arguable that the … DJ (district judge) erred,” he said.

The full hearing in the case, which is seen by Assange’s backers as a cause celebre for press freedom, will take place on October 27 and 28, he added.

Assange himself was remanded in custody until then.

Freedom of speech debate

Judge Baraitser initially concluded that Assange’s mental health would deteriorate when faced with the “harsh conditions” likely to await him in the US jail system, “causing him to commit suicide”.

Assange, who is currently being held at London’s high-security Belmarsh Prison, is wanted on 18 charges in the US relating to the 2010 release by WikiLeaks of 500,000 secret files detailing aspects of military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The 50-year-old Australian followed court proceedings via a video link from prison, sporting long white hair and an unbuttoned white shirt with an untied tie draped around his neck.

Moris, Assange’s fiancee and the mother of his two young children, was tearful after the ruling was handed down, saying he had faced “sustained threats to his life for the past 10 years”.

“These are not just items of law, this is our lives. We have the right to exist and we have a right to live and we have a right for this nightmare to come to an end once and for all,” she told reporters.

Dozens of Assange’s supporters, including the main opposition Labour party’s former leader Jeremy Corbyn, gathered outside the court, some waving placards saying “Free Assange” and “10 years enough”.

Supporters and lawyers for Assange have argued that he was acting as a journalist and is entitled to First Amendment protections of freedom of speech for publishing documents that exposed US military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Lawyers for the US government, however, have said the case is largely based on “his unlawful involvement” in the theft of the diplomatic cables and military files by US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.

After Sweden first issued an arrest warrant for Assange in 2010 over allegations of sexual assault, he sought asylum in Ecuador’s embassy in London, where he remained from 2012 until 2019.

In April 2019, Ecuador, by then governed by right-wing President Lenin Moreno, revoked his citizenship. British police dragged Assange out of the embassy.

Despite blocking his extradition, Baraitser ruled in January that Assange must remain in custody while the US appeals the decision.

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2021-08-11 19:18:45Z
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GCSE pupils share nerves as they prepare to collect their teacher-assessed results tomorrow - Daily Mail

Now for GCSEs: Students share their nerves as they prepare to collect their teacher-assessed results tomorrow amid grade inflation row after record-breaking A-levels

• Schoolchildren across the country will find out their GCSE results tomorrow, with thousands sharing how they are anxiously awaiting teacher-assessed marks
• Traditional exams scrapped in January after exams cancelled for second year 
• Pupils will hope for similar success seen on a record-breaking A-level results day
• But some critics pointed to potential 'grade inflation', owing to the pandemic 

By Jacob Thorburn For Mailonline

Published: 19:43 BST, 11 August 2021 | Updated: 23:58 BST, 11 August 2021

GCSE pupils across the country have been sharing their nerves ahead of their results day tomorrow, amid a furious row over grade inflation after record-breaking A-level results.

Thousands of terrified teenagers are waiting in anticipation for their teacher-assessed grades tomorrow, which were reintroduced in January after exams were cancelled across the UK owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Many took to Twitter to share their jitters ahead of the big day, with exam results able to be collected from 8.30am at many schools or providers.

The grades will determine if pupils can get into their chosen sixth form or college -  with many hoping for similar success that was seen in the record-breaking A-level results earlier this week.

It comes as several critics pointed to the 'grade inflation' seen across the country, where a furious row erupted as the bridge between private and state pupils grew further yet again.

Several critics pointed to the 'grade inflation' seen across the country, where a furious row erupted as the bridge between private and state pupils grew further yet again. Above: Two delighted students in Belfast celebrate receiving their A-level results

Almost 45 per cent of A-level exams had been graded A or A* under the system of teacher assessments.

This was a big rise from the 39 per cent that received the top two grades last year – and a huge increase on the 25 per cent in 2019, the last time exams were run.

But at private schools, an astonishing 70 per cent of A-level entries by fee-paying pupils were graded A or A*. This compared with 42 per cent of entries at state academies, 39 per cent at comprehensives and 35 per cent at sixth form colleges.

In January, traditional assessments were scrapped in favour of teacher-led assessments for a second year in a row. 

Educators drew on a range of evidence from pupils including mock exams, coursework, and in-class assessments using questions provided by exam boards in order to determine a grade.

With such an unorthodox method of grading going ahead for a second year in a row, several GCSE pupils took to Twitter to share their nerves ahead of results day.

Thousands of terrified teenagers are waiting in anticipation for their teacher-assessed grades tomorrow, which were reintroduced in January after exams were cancelled across the UK owing to the Covid-19 pandemic

Others shared humorous memes and GIFs online as they get set for one of the biggest days of their lives so far.

Parents even waded into the discussion, with Lucy Cray saying: 'To say my house is tense would be an understatement.'

The growing disparity between state and private pupils drew a slew of criticism, with Labour claiming the gap between results this year was the result of the 'Williamson effect'.

One MP told The Telegraph that the growing attainment gap between state and private institutions was a 'national disaster'.

Other students shared humorous memes and GIFs online as they get set for one of the biggest days of their lives so far, while anxious parents also waded into the discussion

Gavin Williamson is reportedly in danger of being sacked by Boris Johnson after a furious row erupted after the bridge between private and state pupils in terms of top grades grew to its widest in the recent era. 

Tory MP Andrew Bridgen, who has campaigned for a level playing field between comprehensives and private schools, told MailOnline state education was let down by unions and teachers during the pandemic, which was borne out in the results yesterday.

He said: 'The state system is heavily unionised and this is holding back schools and the children they are meant to serve. People have to realise that the public sector is not being run for the benefit of the public - it is run for the benefit of the people working in it'.

Critics has accused the government of allowing excessive grade inflation over the last two years to let A levels slip towards 'meaninglessness'.

Robert Halfon, the Conservative chair of the education select committee, said that 'a hard rock cake of grade inflation' had been 'baked into' exam results. 

And Nick Hillman, a director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, warned that if A Levels became less useful in terms of selection then more universities could demand applicants take bespoke university entry exams.

It has been reported that one solution being considered by the Department for Education is to 'reset' standards by scrapping the letter-based grades and moving to a numerical system. This happened to GCSEs in 2014 under reforms by then Education Secretary Michael Gove. 

Yesterday Gavin Williamson, the current Education Secretary, said that his department would be 'looking at different measures' to tackle grade inflation, adding: 'There are a whole range of policy options we can look at.'

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: 'In terms of actually making sure there is a feeling and understanding of the difference between grading where we are currently and grading where we are in the future, that's something we are looking at in great detail.'

A Department for Education source told the i newspaper that the idea was part of 'discussions that are being had within the department'.

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2021-08-11 18:43:25Z
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Girl, 3, choked to death in Asda supermarket in Aintree - ITV News

A three-year-old girl has died after choking at an Asda supermarket in Liverpool yesterday evening.

Ambulances and a Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) arrived to the Asda superstore in Aintree, Ormskirk Road around 8.50pm on Tuesday 10 August.The girl was taken to Alder Hey Children's Hospital where she was pronounced dead a short time later.

Credit: Liverpool Echo

The incident is not being treated as suspicious, but enquiries will continue. A Merseyside police spokesperson said: "The child was taken to hospital but sadly pronounced dead a short time later. The family are being supported by officers at this sad time."The incident is not currently being treated as suspicious and enquiries are ongoing."A file is in the process of being prepared for the coroner."

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2021-08-11 16:35:09Z
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COVID-19: UK reports 29,612 new coronavirus cases and 104 deaths - as number fully vaccinated nears 40 million - Sky News

The UK has recorded 29,612 new COVID-19 cases and 104 more coronavirus-related deaths in the latest 24-hour period, according to the latest government figures.

The figures compare to 23,510 infections and 146 coronavirus-related fatalities reported on Tuesday - the highest number of daily COVID-19 deaths since 12 March, when 175 were recorded.

Last Wednesday, there were 29,312 cases and 119 deaths.

Meanwhile, 37,511 people had their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine - taking the total to 47,129,400 (89.1% of the adult population).

And 151,143 were jabbed for the second time, meaning 39,839,709 people (75.3%) have received both doses of a coronavirus vaccine.

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Health Secretary Sajid Javid said plans are under way for autumn booster jabs, although Professor Adam Finn, of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, indicated they would be for a relatively small number of people.

More on Covid

"We've been asked to advise as to who might receive a booster if it proves necessary to give boosters," he told BBC Breakfast.

"I think it's becoming quite clear that there are a small group of people whose immune responses to the first two doses are likely to be inadequate - people who've got immunosuppression of one kind or another, perhaps because they've got immunodeficiency or they've been receiving treatment for cancer or bone marrow transplants or organ transplants, that kind of thing."

Prof Finn also said the reason the vaccine rollout has been extended to 16 and 17-year-olds is because of a small number of serious cases in the age group.

On Tuesday night, NHS workers and their families were treated to a free concert at the O2 Arena in London as Gorillaz returned to the stage.

The band performed their first gig in front of a live audience since October 2018 and the O2's first full capacity live event since March 2020.

Image: The O2 Arena was full for the first time as Gorillaz hosted a free gig for NHS workers and their families on Tuesday night. Pic: Luke Dyson

Concert-goers were required to show a negative COVID-19 test to attend.

Gorillaz celebrated their more than 20-year career with a setlist spanning their seven albums and invited The Cure's Robert Smith, former Joy Division and New Order star Peter Hook, rapper Slowthai, and Shaun Ryder of the Happy Mondays on stage.

Meanwhile, Facebook has removed hundreds of accounts linked to a COVID-19 vaccine disinformation network operating out of Russia.

Advertising agency Fazze sought to pay social media influencers to repost misleading content about the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccine, including one claim that the AstraZeneca jab would turn a person into a chimpanzee.

The plot was uncovered after influencers in France and Germany exposed offers they had been sent and 65 Facebook profiles and 243 Instagram accounts were banned after being traced back to Fazze.

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2021-08-11 15:11:32Z
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