Ministers have been warned that they will face “fire and fury” if they attempt to pin any blame on teachers for the fallout from next week’s GCSE and A-level results day grades.

Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU teaching union, described teachers as “heroes” who had stepped into the chasm created by what she described as “government incompetence” over the cancellation of exams this summer.

There are concerns within the sector that teachers will face criticism over this year’s GCSE and A-level grades, which have been produced through teacher assessment.

Grades could be higher than those seen in 2020 and are likely to be markedly above those seen before the pandemic in 2019. 

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The DfE is also said to be “concerned” about a widening gap between state and private schools within A-level results this year.

However, Dr Bousted has warned politicians against attempting to blame teachers for any fallout from results days next week.

Let me just say this. Any attempt by a government minister, or Ofqual, or anyone else, to blame teachers next week’s GCSE and A level grades will be met with fire and fury. Teachers are the heroes here.

- Dr Mary Bousted (@MaryBoustedNEU) August 6, 2021

Posting on Twitter, she said: “Let me just say this. Any attempt by a government minister, or Ofqual, or anyone else, to blame teachers [for] next week’s GCSE and A-level grades will be met with fire and fury. Teachers are the heroes here.

“Teachers stepped into the chasm created by Boris Johnson’s refusal to countenance, despite all the evidence of Covid infection rates, that exams would not happen this year, compounding the fiasco of last year.

“And despite Gavin Willamson’s assurances on 6 January that the DfE and Ofqual had made contingency plans, teachers were not given the essential information they needed to generate GCSE and A-level grades until the last day of the spring term.

“Teachers worked under immense and unnecessary pressure to assess the work of their GCSE and A-level students. All the grades given have been validated by the exam boards.

“So, to summarise - teachers and leaders stepped into the breach created by this government’s rank incompetence. That’s it and all about it.”