Four education unions have jointly called on education secretary Gavin Williamson to set up an urgent independent inquiry into what went wrong with the process for awarding grades in A levels and GCSEs this summer.
A letter signed by the general secretaries of the Association of School and College Leaders, the NAHT school leaders’ union and the NEU and NASUWT teaching unions also calls for the suspension of school performance tables in the 2020-21 academic year because of the likelihood of ongoing disruption caused by Covid-19.
The union bosses warn Mr Williamson that this summer’s exam results have undermined public confidence and raise questions about governance and oversight within his department.
They also call on him to scrap league tables for next year because the disruption caused by Covid-19 is likely to vary greatly between schools, making the process “unfair”.
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The letter says: “This year’s process for awarding grades in A levels, GCSEs and other qualifications has left many young people, parents and teachers with a sense of deep injustice.
“It has undermined public confidence, and raises questions about governance and oversight within the Department for Education and Ofqual.
“Parents and taxpayers will quite rightly be asking what went wrong and why.
“We are asking you to commit to an urgent and independent inquiry into what happened this year in order to understand what went wrong and to learn lessons for the future.”
The call follows a major U-turn in the way in which grades were awarded this summer following the cancellation of exams because of the coronavirus.
Ofqual had planned to use a standardisation process for A levels and GCSE grades but abandoned this after a major outcry at the way centre assessed grades submitted by schools had been downgraded at A level by Ofqual’s moderation process.
The unions’ letter to Mr Williamson is signed by ASCL’s general secretary Geoff Barton, the NAHT’s general secretary Paul Whiteman, the joint general secretaries of the NEU, Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, and Patrick Roach, the general secretary of the NASUWT.
On school league tables it adds: “We share your commitment to having all schools open to all pupils and we sincerely hope that this proves possible with minimal disruption in the 2020-21 academic year.
“However, it is likely that pupils will have to self-isolate in line with the government guidance, and that this may extend to groups having to do so. There is also the possibility of schools having to close partially or fully in response to local lockdown restrictions.
“It is very clear even at this stage that the impact of this disruption will vary greatly between and within areas, and this will make any attempt to compare school performance through the publication of performance tables both meaningless and damaging. We are concerned it will potentially mislead parents and suggest system frailty, which will, in turn, leave the Department open to further criticism.
“We would therefore ask that you rule out the publication of performance data in the 2020-21 academic year.
“We believe this move would be widely welcomed in the education sector and relieve staff of one more concern in what is already an extremely challenging time.”
