Why does Gavin Williamson continue to let down our young people ? - Catherine Scott

The main thrust of the consultation is that teacher-assessed grades (TAGs) will replace GCSEs and A-levels. But the TAGs will have to be evidence-based and only reflect what the students are achieving at the moment – not what the teachers predict they could have got if Covid-19 hadn’t happened.

That seems at odds to what happened last year when students, particularly A-level students, were awarded their predicted grades. Predicted grades are what have been sent to Ucas and what many students’ offers have been based on.

While I can see the need for some sort of parity across the country, it is hard to see how this is possible when so many GCSE and A-level students have had different experiences during the last year. Some have seen very little disruption with access to live lessons from the start, others have missed months of face-to-face teaching as well as technology problems.

I know some students felt a bit cheated when Boris Johnson announced the exams could not go ahead this summer as planned. And while the Government maintains exams are the best way of testing children’s ability, how can that be the case when there is such a disparity across the country when it comes to the disruption children have faced?

Both my children should be sitting exams this summer. They have had the advantage of access to technology and a supportive family but even so they are struggling. Not with the prospect of sitting exams, if that’s what’s decided, they will do their best, but with the constant U-turns. I am sure teachers are feeling the same, especially as apparently they will have to mark any externally set exams. So once again Gavin Williamson is letting down our young people. Yes, exams are important but teenagers’ mental health is more important.