A-levels debacle: Williamson expects to stay in post ‘over the coming year’ August 18, 2020 Education secretary Gavin Williamson has sought to defend the government’s U-turn on A-level and GCSE grading, suggesting the blame lies with the body that decided on the original algorithm. Williamson also said he expected to remain in post “over the coming year”, amid calls for him to step down as a result of the fiasco. [...]
History tells us now is a good time to go to university August 18, 2020 The Covid-19 pandemic has had a dramatic impact in a very short amount of time on people’s lives — worry and uncertainty continues as cases rise and fall at differing levels across the globe. And while the UK grapples with the consequences of an economic recession, people who received their A-level results last week are [...]
Misnomers, uncertainty, and a need for compassion – how to get the UK’s future immigration system on the right path August 18, 2020 Priti Patel’s latest statement on immigration post Brexit quietly came and went last month. While it did not give anything new away, it was what was missing that was most interesting. The paper set out how the immigration system will work after Brexit, and it should do a decent job for larger businesses. The skilled [...]
Downing Street confident of striking UK-EU trade deal next month August 17, 2020 The UK is still on course to deliver an EU trade deal next month, according to Downing Street. Negotiations are set to enter their seventh round on Tuesday when UK negotiators travel to Brussels. The Prime Minister’s spokesman has said they would “continue to plug the gaps”. A number of issues remain unresolved, including those [...]
Tory backbencher says Gavin Williamson could be in line for autumn axeing August 17, 2020 Tory backbencher and former minister George Freeman has said the government’s A-levels U-turn has been a “total shambles” and that Gavin Williamson may be sacked in an autumn reshuffle. Williamson was forced today to scrap his emergency A-level grading system, after an uproar from parents, students and teachers about it being unfair. The algorithm used [...]
A-levels: pupils in England to receive predicted grades after major U-turn August 17, 2020 Pupils in England will receive teacher predicted grades for their A-level results after a major government U-turn. Teacher predicted grades will also be used for the upcoming GCSE results. Education secretary Gavin Williamson said: “This has been an extraordinarily difficult year for young people who were unable to take their exams. “We worked with Ofqual [...]
Wales to use predicted grades for A-level results in U-turn August 17, 2020 Wales is to award pupils A-levels in line with their predicted grades after a backlash against the use of an algorithm to moderate results. Welsh minister for education Kirsty Williams, said: “Working with Qualifications Wales and WJEC we have sought an approach which provides fairness and balances out differences in the standards applied to judgments [...]
Liz Truss blasts ‘unacceptable’ US tariffs on Scotch whisky August 17, 2020 International trade secretary Liz Truss has slammed the “unacceptable and unfair” US tariffs on British products, while also vowing to negotiate their end when the UK leaves the post-Brexit transition period. The US levelled tariffs on several European countries last year – after permission from the World Trade Organisation (WTO) – as a part of [...]
GCSE results in Northern Ireland to be based on predicted grades August 17, 2020 Pupils in Northern Ireland will receive teacher predicted grades for their GCSEs, the education minister said. Ahead of the publication of GCSE results on Thursday education minister Peter Weir said that “exceptional circumstances” meant that pupils would receive predicted grades as their final mark. “Having received advice from CCEA and listened to the concerns of [...]
Belarus: There will be no new election, says Lukashenko August 17, 2020 Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko today said there would be no new presidential election despite calls from the opposition and nationwide anti-government protests, the Belta news agency reported. “You should never expect me to do something under pressure,” he was quoted as saying. “They (new elections) won’t happen.” Lukashenko’s reported comments came as he faces the [...]