Speaking ahead of GCSE results day, education secretary Gillian Keegan has defended her remarks that students will not be asked about exam grades in 10 years’ time.
Ms Keegan said today that she has never asked anyone for their A-level results in her 30 years in business.
This echoed her comments made last week - which came as students awaited A-level results - and were branded ill-timed and insensitive by commentators, and as “incredibly rude and dismissive” by Labour’s shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson.
Last week, Ms Keegan told Sky News: “Somebody asked me: ‘What will people ask you in 10 years’ time?’ They won’t ask you anything about your A-level grades in 10 years’ time.
“They will ask you about other things you have done since then: what you have done in the workplace, what you did at university. And then, after a period of time, they don’t even ask you what you did at university.”
She added: “It is really all about what you do and what you can demonstrate and the skills that you learn in the workplace.”
Today, Ms Keegan told the channel her remarks were “taken out of context, as they always are”.
She added: “But it is true and I will stand by the comments because I was asked this actually after a business guy had said the same in an earlier interview, and I will stand by the comments.
“As somebody who has worked for 30 years in business, that has employed hundreds, if not thousands, of people, I can honestly say I have never asked anybody for their A-level results or what grades they got.
“Ten years later, which is the time period I was asked about, that is the reality.”
Ms Keegan stressed there are a number of different options that can be taken by school and college leavers - such as apprenticeships.
“So if you are wanting to get into the workplace, and if you are wanting to earn and learn, there are alternative routes for you, if you are wanting to skip the student debt then that is also an option for you,” she said.
Students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will receive their GCSE results on Thursday, and results for many level 2 vocational and technical qualifications are also expected.
Ms Keegan told Times Radio that GCSEs were “very important” exams.
She said: “For me, they were very important because I didn’t do A levels. They were the thing that got me onto my apprenticeship.
“For me, because that was my step into the workplace, they were a game-changer, and I also didn’t think I was going to pass many and I ended up passing more than I thought.
“For me, they were vitally important. But clearly, every part of your journey is to the next destination and it depends what that destination is.”
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “We understand the point that the education secretary was attempting to make - that exam results act as a gateway to the next stage of your life and, once you have arrived at that next stage, the grades themselves become less critical.
“But it was especially poor timing to make these remarks on results day, when grades do matter and feel incredibly important to the young people receiving them.”
Exams regulator Ofqual has said a return to pre-pandemic grading means this year’s national GCSE results in England will be lower than last year, and similar to levels in 2019 - the year before the Covid crisis struck.
In Wales and Northern Ireland, GCSE results are expected to return to pre-pandemic grading levels next year.
