Results days are never something any teacher or leader feels completely relaxed about. These are the 26th set of results I’ve waited for, and even in typical circumstances I would still feel anxious, nervous and excited whilst running a zillion scenarios through my head.
This summer’s results will be more stressful for teachers, leaders, students and their parents than ever. Students did not sit the examinations they had been preparing for; what followed can only be described as an omnishambles. With so much unhelpful clutter and noise around the final production of students’ grades, it is understandable that patience and nerves will be frayed.
A-level grading is an omnishambles
Some school leaders who like to do the midnight download were already on their way into school when the DfE announced a new concession late on Tuesday night: students not happy with the Ofqual-revised, centre-assessed grades (CAG) could choose between these, their mock results or taking the exams this autumn. We are still waiting for the full details of how this “triple-lock” approach will work in reality, but presumably someone thought this would allay a Scottish-style U-turn.
Every year teachers and school leaders will experience disappointment, anger and a sense of unfairness over some of their students’ results. This kind of anger is, sadly, part of the professional baggage - even though it is more often than not far outweighed by the positives and successes of the vast majority.
However, this year, there are few of us who are heading into A-level and GCSE results days not already fuming mad at the arrangements and re-arrangements for calculating this summer’s results.
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Days and weeks were spent in every school trying to ensure that our centre-assessed grades were accurate, only for those professional judgements to be effectively dismissed - to be shrugged off as a fantasy by those who assume teachers are too generous.
Teachers: you are right to be bloody furious about this, especially as you did not submit your CAG directly to the exam boards, but were moderated internally by middle and senior leaders.
If teacher assessments are always higher than exam results, that is because we reflect on what individuals can do, rather than what happens when the nerves kick in and someone later arbitrarily decides where the grade boundaries are.
So be angry, but ensure that should anyone ever challenge the validity of your CAG at any time, including going forward, you can absolutely guarantee their accuracy. Take back your professional pride and never give any doubters evidence that we’re over-generous and relaxed in our grading.
Rapidly improving schools, many serving disadvantaged communities, are likely to be the angriest. Choosing to work at a school in challenging circumstances does not come with many rewards - staff are not paid more; the scrutiny, accountability and dangers are higher. Now add to this: their professional judgments are being dismissed even more than teachers in stable schools, and to prove their students deserved better grades there is an added process to go through.
Be furious about this but please do not quit on these kids - stick with your school and make an exceptional difference to these children’s futures; do not go looking for an “easier” school as this is a Brigadoon myth. Instead, recuperate over the residue of the summer and regroup as a team to ensure that your subject, department or school is better than ever before. Not because you have a beautiful Pinterest-friendly classroom but because the day-in, day-out bones of the quality of the education you provide is top rate.
Headteachers, trust that leaders and senior leaders are just as livid as their colleagues. Going forward, it will be essential for school leaders to lead the charge for adjustments and change. They will need to lead a period of understanding and possibly healing. What should not happen is anger within an institution towards colleagues - these are not results to be judged by, sacked by or used in appraisal. Only together, and with some heart, will we survive - and being a happy, positive force for good for every child is what really matters now.
Keziah Featherstone is the headteacher of an 11-18 comprehensive academy in the West Midlands as well as being co-founder and strategic leader for #WomenEd and a member of the Headteachers’ Roundtable
