Newspaper column 20 August 2020 - Results

Today students across Truro and Falmouth will be receiving their GCSE results, following AS and A-Level students getting theirs last Thursday. I wish all students the best of luck with their results in this particularly unusual and difficult year.

Back in March, the Government took the difficult decision, in light of the public health emergency, to cancel all GCSE, AS and A level exams due to take place in schools and colleges in England this summer.

Since exams were cancelled, Ofqual, the independent qualifications regulator, developed a process that provided a calculated grade for each student for each subject, which should have reflected their performance as fairly as possible. While no alternative system could be a perfect substitute for real exams, the over-riding objective of the system was to ensure that wherever possible students received qualifications this summer which have the same value as in any other year and which would enable them to move on successfully.

Since the AS and A Level results were published last week, I have been contacted by numbers of students from across Truro and Falmouth who were concerned with their grades following results day.

I fed back both the number and nature of these complaints to Government, along with colleagues, and am pleased to see they have listened and changed the process accordingly, and on Monday Ofqual announced that A-level and GCSE students in England will be given grades estimated by their teachers, rather than by the system previously planned.

Students will now receive the higher of their teacher-assessed grade or their moderated grade.

As with many things this year, these are unprecedented times with huge decisions we never thought we would have to make, and it is only right that the Government should listen and be able to adapt its processes accordingly.

I will continue to work with colleagues locally and nationally to get the best outcome for local residents.

However given that this is a new system, there will always be some queries with the results, where the process gets it wrong. In these cases, there are several things you can do.

The National Careers Service runs an Exam Results Helpline for students who want advice on their next steps, including appeals and autumn exams. The helpline is free and will be open from 12-28 August from 8 am to 10 pm, 7 days a week on 0800 100 900.

In addition, student who have missed the grades for their university offer are advised to contact their university directly.

Universities have committed to be flexible and most are considering a wide variety of factors in addition to the grade awarded.

Of course students who have concerns with their grades are also more than welcome to get in touch with me direct and my team and I will do our best to support you through this process by signposting and getting in touch with the relevant departments.

Anyone with concerns about their grades or anything else, should please get in touch with me at Cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk, or on 01872 229698 or you can write to me by letter at Lemon Chapel, William Street, Truro, TR1 2ED.