Harlow labour have welcomed the government’s announcement that they are to reverse the downgrading of A Level and GCSE results. However they have pushed for an urgent review and maintain questions still need to be answered by the government and Robert Halfon who chairs the education select committee.

BREAKING NEWS: The gov't has decided to U-Turn on it's shambolic A-Level grading algorithm & instead placing trust in Teacher's assessment.

This is a welcome move, but may be too late for many students missing out on Uni places.

More to come.https://t.co/EB6nXvBLXE

— Harlow Labour Party (@HarlowLabour) August 17, 2020

Chris Vince, a school teacher, as well as a Harlow Labour Councillor, said:

“I am relieved that the government has finally come to its senses and listened to calls from the Labour Party and the teaching profession by awarding all students across England those grades predicted by their teachers. I only wish they could have made this decision sooner and prevented the heartache and anxiety that many of our young people have faced. However, urgent questions need to be asked both of the Education Secretary and Harlow’s own MP

 

“Why were these plans for A Level and GCSE results not properly scrutinised either by civil servants or at the Department of Education or the education select committee? Why were so many young people put through the mental anguish of receiving grades that didn’t reflect their skills, abilities and hard work? what is the Government and the education select committee going to do to reassure universities, colleges, employers and apprenticeship providers that student grades are an accurate reflection on them after Conservative cabinet members have exhausted so much energy over the media airwaves convincing people that teachers were not up to the job of predicting the grades of their own students? What is the government and the Education select committee going to do to help those A level students for whom this u-turn has come too late, having already been refused a place at their chosen University?

 

“This is still an absolute mess. I urge the current MP for Harlow, in his role as the chair of the education select committee, to call for an urgent review into the A-level fiasco which has left students feeling stressed and anxious about their futures and the teaching profession even further devalued.”