Gavin Williamson vows 'no U-turn, no change' over A-level grading system as pressure rises for reforms

Gavin Williamson has said there will be “no U-turn, no change” on the grading system used to generate this year’s controversial A-level results.

The Education Secretary claimed on Saturday that backtracking on the Government’s algorithm would “severely erode” the value of qualifications and lead to grade inflation.

It come as he announced that schools in England will be able to appeal against A-level and GCSE grades free of charge.

Mr Williamson said it would be a “shocking injustice” if cost stopped appeals being made on behalf of pupils with a “strong and legitimate” case.

‘Fair appeals process’

“I do not want a youngster to feel they are in a situation where there is a strong and legitimate case for grounds for appeal, but an appeal is not made on grounds of cost,” he told The Times.

“That would be a real, shocking injustice.

“You will have obviously a large number of appeals. But I would rather have a strong, robust fair appeals process that makes sure that youngsters get the grades that they deserve as against being in a situation where there is an injustice that carries on.”

Appeals can cost up to £150 for an independent review, with the costs refunded if the appeal is upheld.

Last year there were 3,205 appeals, equivalent to 0.05 per cent of all entries, and 16 per cent were changed according to figures from Ofqual.

Sixth form students protest against the downgrading of A-level results in London earlier this week. (Getty)

The Government has faced searing criticism after it emerged thousands of pupils in England had their results downgraded earlier this week.

Protesters gathered outside Downing Street on Friday chanting for Mr Williamson to be sacked, a call echoed by some opposition MPs.

Some Oxford colleges have said they will disregard the results entirely, while the Royal Statistical Society has written to the Office of Statistics Regulation to ask for a review into whether “the models and processes adopted by the qualification regulators did in fact achieve quality and trustworthiness”.

Government under fire

But Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted he has confidence in Mr Williamson and described the system as “robust”.

Conservative MPs voiced concerns about the process used by exam regulator Ofqual to moderate A-level results, with Sir Robert Syms suggesting the Westminster Government may have to follow Scotland’s lead if the appeals procedure failed to deal with the issues.

The SNP-led administration at Holyrood opted to allow results estimated by teachers to be accepted after a similar outcry.

Mr Williamson said students in England should not expect the Government to adopt the Scottish system as he criticised the model for “in-baked unfairness”.

“In Scotland you’ve got a system where there aren’t any controls, you’ve got rampant grade inflation,” he said.

“There’s been no checks and balances in that system; it degrades every single grade as a result and in-baked unfairness.

“If we see one year where you see the grade distributions so distorted and so changed then actually the value and the worth of what those grades are is damaged as a result of that.

“And when we look at future years, the children coming through next year doing their GCSEs, their A levels and their BTecs, they’ll be in a situation where their grades will look substantially worse off than the grades of the previous year.”

Additional reporting by Press Association