In a demonstration of the anger and frustration generated by the
Government's catastrophic mishandling of this year's A-Level and
GCSE grading process, over 25,000 people have already signed our
petition to the Prime Minister which launched on Wednesday night.
Parents, students and education professionals are as one in their
belief this disaster must never happen again. Together, we are
calling for swift action to ensure that students sitting those
same...Request free trial
In a demonstration of the anger and frustration generated by the
Government's catastrophic mishandling of this year's A-Level and
GCSE grading process, over 25,000 people have already signed our
petition to
the Prime Minister
which launched on Wednesday night.
Parents, students and education professionals are as one in
their belief this
disaster
must never happen again. Together, we are calling for swift
action to ensure that students sitting those same exams in 2021
are treated fairly and that none are cruelly disadvantaged by
an algorithm.
We are asking Government to:
•Reduce
the content assessed in GCSE and A-level exams next summer,
across all subjects, to allow for
variation in lost learning time
•Work
with the profession to develop a robust national system of
moderated centre assessed grades in case there is further
disruption to exams next summer due to Covid-19
•Commission
a thorough, independent review into assessment methods used to
award GCSE and A-level qualifications in England, along the
lines announced by the Scottish government.
Dr Mary
Bousted,
Joint General Secretary, National Education
Union,
said:
"This Government has
no one but
itself to blame. The weaknesses in a system of its own creation
have been left horribly exposed. What is needed is nothing
short of an independent review into what went wrong, and a
determination to ensure it never happens again. That would be a
big step towards regaining the trust of parents and the
profession."
The wording of the #FairGrade2021 petition, which is addressed
to , is as follows.
"The Government has a duty of care for the nation’s children
and young people. In its management of this year’s A-Level
grading process, the Government failed in this
duty.
"Ministers showed a lack of trust in teachers and leaders,
whose assessments of their students’ potential were
overwhelmingly discarded in favour of an Ofqual algorithm
combined with historic patterns of grades in schools and
colleges. Grades were initially awarded, for
the vast majority of
students, with no reference to, or evidence of, their
individual achievements. Young people do not deserve to be
treated as numbers in an algorithm.
"This must never happen again. For students due to sit A-Level
and GCSE exams in 2021 – young people who have already suffered
so much due to the Coronavirus pandemic – it is vital that the
Government takes urgent steps to ensure they are treated fairly
and that none are disadvantaged.
"We call on the Government to:
-
Plan for the GCSE and A-Levels taken by students in 2021 by
reducing or making optional the expected content in all
subjects. Students starting the final year of their GCSE
and A-Levels this September have missed months of
schooling: the exams they sit in the summer of 2021 must
reflect this lost learning time and include more question
choice and a slimmed down syllabus.
-
Develop a national system of teacher moderated grades in
case there is further disruption to exams next summer
because of a second spike or local lockdowns.
-
Commission a thorough review into the assessment methods
used to award GCSE and A
Level qualifications
in England, along the lines announced by the Scottish
government. All options should be considered, including the
possibility of more coursework and systematic, moderated
teacher assessment, in order to broaden the assessment
system and ensure that young people are rewarded for their
achievements, supported to fulfil their potential and not
held back due to their background."
|
