A-levels debacle: Williamson expects to stay in post ‘over the coming year’
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.
The government yesterday jettisoned a controversial mathematical model that assessed grade predictions made by teachers and lowered results for almost 40 per cent of A-level students.
Those at comprehensive schools and in disadvantaged areas appeared to have been hit hardest by the downgrades.
Pupils in England will now be able to receive the A-level and GCSE grades recommended by their teachers, should they be higher.
However, the U-turn has thrown universities into chaos. Many students were forced to accept “insurance” offers or go into the clearing process to try to find another place. But now they could be entitled to try to claim back their first choice university place.
Williamson says exam U-turn ‘right thing to do’
Speaking to broadcasters, Williamson refused to say whether he had offered his resignation. He told the BBC he expects to remain in post “over the coming year”.
The education secretary is under fire from all sides, however, after a Tory rebellion.
Layla Moran, the Lib Dem education spokesperson, bluntly said Williamson should resign because of the damage done to students.
She told BBC News: “The point is this government is utterly incompetent. Gavin Williamson must go.”
Williamson today said the change was the “right thing to do”. He had earlier insisted there would be “no U-turn, no change” on results.
He told Sky News: “When it was clear that the system wasn’t delivering what we believed and what we’d been assured that it would do… then further action had to be taken, that’s what I did.” He also apologised to students for the distress caused.
He said the government acted after spotting “too many anomalies” in regulator Ofqual’s algorithm, suggesting the blame lay with the body.