Fears teachers could be blamed for giving ACCURATE GCSE results when they are released tomorrow

Tough teachers who predicted their pupils’ GCSE results fairly will face the blame if they are too low, warns education expert

  • Teachers who give accurate marks ‘could be blamed,’ for not inflating grades 
  • Former headteacher predicts a shortage of sixth form places after results day
  • Lord Blunkett has called for ‘Nightingale-style’ provision for further education

Tough teachers who predicted their pupils’ GCSE results fairly will face the blame if they are too low, an education expert has warned. 

Tomorrow Year 11 pupils around the country will pick up their results, four months after exams were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Results have been decided by teachers’ own assessments of their pupils. These grades were set to be assessed by an Ofqual algorithm to make sure marks were not overly generous.

Following a disastrous A-Level results day, which saw 40 per cent of pupils downgraded, tomorrow’s results will now be largely decided by a teacher’s opinion – unless the heavily-criticised algorithm gives a pupil a higher mark. 

Education adviser and former Kent headteacher Peter Read said: ‘The function of the algorithm was to stop inflated grades getting through, now that’s not going to work.

GCSE pupils will pick up their grades tomorrow, after a week of uncertainty following A-Level results day

This year's GCSE results are being determined by the Centre Assessed Grade (CAG) determined by each school  - despite higher marks being expected, some pupils are still nervous

This year’s GCSE results are being determined by the Centre Assessed Grade (CAG) determined by each school  – despite higher marks being expected, some pupils are still nervous

‘I can’t see any case where teachers will give an estimate that’s lower than expected.

‘What will happen is teachers who have been strictly accurate will see their children do less well than those who have inflated their grades. 

‘Teachers who inflated the grades, they will be rewarded. Teachers who have been accurate, their children will not have been rewarded.

‘Teachers could be blamed for giving accurate results.’ 

Lord Blunkett has called for 'Nightingale' further education centres to cope with the sudden influx of sixth form and college pupils following tomorrow's results

Lord Blunkett has called for ‘Nightingale’ further education centres to cope with the sudden influx of sixth form and college pupils following tomorrow’s results

Mr Read also raised concerns over a lack of sixth form places, as over-achieving pupils reduce the amount of space.

He said: ‘Not all schools have sixth forms, but for those who do, they will have more of their own pupils returning because of this year’s grades.

‘There will be less room for external students.

‘Universities have been able to expand to some degree, schools cannot do that. You simply can’t hire a teacher in two weeks.’ 

Speaking to The Telegraph, Lord Blunkett called for an ‘enormous expansion,’ as he raised concerns that children had ‘nowhere else to go’.

He said: ‘There is no jobs market, because apprenticeships are going to be in very short supply, because employers are not going to be able to take them on.

‘They need to bring forward funding at once and have Nightingale-style FE provision. They could take over office space or public space. We need the kind of drive that we had initially for the NHS capacity.’ 

Pupils have started to raise concerns ahead of results day, amid fears they could have been marked down.

Mr Read said it was unlikely teachers would judge pupils harshly, but teenagers continue to share their thoughts online.

Nervous pupils are worrying about how they will fair when the open their GCSE results tomorrow

Nervous pupils are worrying about how they will fair when the open their GCSE results tomorrow

One wrote: ‘We will see which teachers actually hated me and which liked me tomorrow.’ 

Another said: ‘Having no clue how your teachers are going to mark you is a lot worse than having sat the actual thing. Stressing.’ 

English teacher Patrick Cragg told TES, formerly the Times Educational Supplment, that teachers need to show a united front when dealing with pupils tomorrow.

He told the website: ‘I’d advise that all staff members tell their students the same message.

‘Something like: “Remember that your subject teachers did not personally choose your grades. You may be disappointed with a particular subject, but just like after a normal exam, you need to refer to your school’s exams officer if you have a query.”‘

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