The joy and the anguish for A level students

Yorkshire Party Leader Bob Buxton who trains engineering apprentices said: “I’m delighted at the u-turn and hope that those who were wrongly denied university places last week are given a second chance. With fewer overseas students this coming year, there is more room for UK students. Where courses are nevertheless full, I hope the government can provide funding for extra places - it is their fault, after all.”

Dr Buxton, from Rawdon, spoke out about the “Post Code Lottery” last week.

He said: “During my teacher training, a lecturer gave a great speech about how it wasn’t fair that socio-economic status could affect students’ achievement. It inspired me to help students succeed whatever their background. Right now I feel sick. This will disillusion a whole generation of students and it cannot be allowed to continue.”

The flawed system also came in for criticism from Leeds North West MP Alex Sobel last week.

He urged the government to “trust our teachers” amid the outcry over A level results.

Mr Sobel, who represents Leeds North West, criticised the “ongoing fiasco” in which more than 40 per cent of students had their results downgraded, particularly those in lower economic areas.

He said: “This has been a very difficult time for everybody and there are no easy answers when it comes to making an assessment of something so important as a grade for A levels.

“That said, it is now clear that the Government have completely bungled this and have put the futures of many young people, including many in my constituency, at risk.

“It is time that we trusted our teachers and backed their considered assessments. Surely it is better to have decisions made by experienced professionals based on performance than an algorithm which downgrades results based on some sort of postcode lottery.”

Schools in the area have spoken out about the distress caused to students over the past few days.

In a statement Benton Park School said: “Last Thursday saw all of our Year 13 students receive their A Level results amidst increasing controversy over the algorithm which had been applied to all student grades and saw a significant number of the grades moderated down.

“This is a key milestone for our students as it represents seven years of hard work and effort in their secondary school educational journey and it should have been a day of excitement and celebration as they start the next chapter in their lives. Instead, the day was incredibly difficult as many students, along with their teachers, were upset and shocked at the grades they actually received. This started a scramble for university places along with a significant number of requests to appeal grades awarded.

“Fast forward a week and we have now seen major changes to how the grades have been awarded, with the government reverting back to the centre assessed grades submitted by each school. This is a welcome development in the teaching profession as it was a painstaking process, drawing on all the evidence we have available for each of our students enabling us to provide a result which is a fair reflection of what our students would have been likely to achieve had they sat the exam. As teachers and leaders of the school we know our students best and we were privileged to use our professional judgement and integrity supported by sound evidence to arrive at the grades we submitted.

“Sadly though, for some students the change came all too late as they have already been rejected by their first choice university. With places now filled they are left wondering what their options are as universities work hard to try and find a way forward for the significant number of students who have been adversely affected by this late change to the process."

Headteacher Delia Martin said: “This has been an incredibly tough year for everyone concerned and in particular for those students who saw their exams cancelled and have had the anxiety of relying on an unknown process. The events over this last week surrounding the awarding of grades have made the situation even more worrying and upsetting for our young people. Our focus now is very much on supporting our students to ensure that they can access their preferred next steps in their educational journey. I would like to pay tribute to all of our Year 13 students who have handled the situation with a real maturity and have shown themselves to be the impressive young adults we already knew they were. We are confident that, despite all the challenges they are facing, that they will go on to achieve success in whatever they choose to do in the future. Equally, I would like to thank all of my teaching staff for the hard work and support they have given to our Year 13 students throughout the last two years and also for the professionalism and integrity they showed in working through the rigorous process we implemented for arriving at the centre assessed grades for each of our students.”

Last week staff at Prince Henry’s School in Otley warned that too many students had been given apparently indiscriminate grades in the A level standardisation process.

The school said: “Most of Year 13 at Prince Henry’s have been able to secure a place at a university, apprenticeship, or workplace and overall school achievement is in line with previous years, but school leaders are unhappy with the impact that the grade standardisation process has had on some individual students. Too many students have been given what appear to be indiscriminate grades, that do not reflect their teacher’s assessment of their ability. Staff at Prince Henry’s are working hard to help all students secure progression to their next stage, including guiding students through the appeal process.”

Janet Sheriff, Executive Headteacher, Prince Henry’s Grammar School said:”I am incredibly proud of our students’ achievements this year, especially during the difficult circumstances that have arisen from the COVID-19 crisis. Students may not have sat exams this summer, but they have worked hard during their two-year course and therefore deserve to achieve excellent results. I wish all of them the very best for their next steps.”

She added:“We are working with those students who have been adversely affected by the impact of COVID-19 to help them secure an appropriate route to achieve their goals. The team of talented and dedicated staff at Prince Henry’s are, as always, committed to helping all students be the best that they can be.”

Students from the Wharfedale area, who attend The Grammar School at Leeds, put the challenges of the last few months behind them to celebrate top A-level results last week.

Toluwanise Olusoga from Menston, was “ecstatic” with his two A*s and an A, securing his place at Cardiff University to read medicine. Ailsa Gorman from Bramhope and Frankie Ball from Horsforth both met the terms of their offers to study psychology at university, with A* and two As, and three As respectively.

The potential of Paddy Tonge as an engineer was spotted early in his sixth form career, when he was awarded a prestigious scholarship by Arkwright Engineering Scholarships, part of the Smallpeice Trust. Paddy, from Bramhope, exceeded his offer for general engineering at Durham University with two A*s and an A.

Other top performers from the area were Toby Fawkes, from Farnley, with three A*s and an A, and Hudson Morgan, from Horsforth, who achieved two A*s and an A. Nicolas Pattinson from Ilkley, gained four A-levels including two A*s and an A, while Dara Madden from Bramhope achieved an A* and two As.

Sue Woodroofe, GSAL Principal, said:“The last few months have been extremely uncertain for everyone. Our students have seen an abrupt end to their schooling and endured months of lockdown, but staff and parents have continued to support them, just as they have continued to support each other.”

In a challenging year, more than a third of students at GSAL achieved the top grades of three As or more, with six students gaining 4 A*s and a further five achieving at least three A*s.