Warning over GCSE results row with grades set to fall again

It is believed results could fall for a second successive year this morning amid major upheaval in the exams system,

Coun Judith Blake, Leeds City Council’s executive member for children’s services, warned that last year’s dispute over English grades – which led to an unsuccessful legal challenge – has left some teachers feeling the system is working against their pupils.

Last year saw a drop in A* to C grades for the first time in the qualification’s 24-year history.

The results led to a High Court case after councils challenged the way in which two exam boards had moved the grade boundary between January and June in English. An alliance of schools, councils and pupils took the exam boards AQA and EdExcel and the regulator Ofqual to court in an attempt to get a judicial review to get work marked in June re-graded in line with the grade boundaries used in January.

However the legal challenge was unsuccessful. Lord Justice Elias ruled Ofqual had done the best it could with a qualification which was structured unfairly and that grades would not be revised.

Coun Blake voiced fears the desire to stop grades improving year-on-year could result in more schools feeling their pupils have been unfairly treated today.

“Nationally there have been fears among the unions and teaching organisations that we could see more turbulence this year and not just in English but also in science and maths.”

One exam expert said attempts to secure standards along with changes to key GCSEs and moves by students to sit different exams could combine to cause a drop in the pass rate. Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University, said it was “likely” that results will drop again this morning.