Across the British Isles, around 40% of A-level results, which were based on estimates by teachers following the cancellation of exams due to the Covid-19 pandemic, were downgraded by exams regulator Ofqual.
A-level students received their results last Thursday while GCSE students are due to receive theirs this Thursday.
Education Minister Tracey Vallois said the handling of this year’s A-level results had caused ‘unnecessary’ distress for Jersey students and teachers before yesterday’s announcement that teachers’ grades would stand.
It is unclear whether students who missed out on a place at their preferred university due to the downgrading of results will be able to reclaim their place.
Ofqual’s grading system relied on an algorithm which used schools’ historical performance to calculate marks, leading to accusations of unfairness and bias towards private schools.
Jersey students achieved 12.5% A* grades and 19.8% A grades. B grades accounted for 30.3%, C for 22.5%, D for 11.5% and E 2.9% after the initial results were published, but those figures are now likely to change.
Pressure had been mounting on UK Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, with calls for him to resign over the crisis. He apologised yesterday for the distress suffered by students and said that there had been ‘significant inconsistencies’ in the grading process.
The governments of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland had already said that the teacher-assessed grades would stand.
And on Thursday, two head teachers in Jersey said that students had been treated as statistics rather than individuals, with JCG principal Carl Howarth saying there had been some ‘bizarre’ and ‘unfair’ grades awarded.
Prior to the UK government amending the grading process, Senator Tracey Vallois said: ‘I have been greatly disappointed by the way the results for this year’s A-level students have been calculated, communicated and subsequently handled. It is particularly upsetting to see the unnecessary and distressing impact this has had on Jersey’s students and their teachers.
‘I would like to make it clear that I value highly the hard work and commitment of our young people and their teachers, and I am proud and humbled by how they have responded throughout this very difficult time.’
Following A-level results last Thursday, students going on to higher education were advised to contact their careers teacher if they did not receive the grades they were expecting.
