Following today’s A-level results that have seen almost 4 in 10 results downgraded, Imran urged the Government to allow students to appeal results and to provide greater clarity over mock exams

In a letter to the Secretary of State for Education, Imran has urged the Government to set out today a robust appeals process that goes beyond that currently on offer in order to allow individual students to appeal their final results without having to go through their school, and to ensure that the process will conclude, without additional cost, before the start of university in September.

With many schools choosing not to conduct mock exams earlier this year whilst other students achieved a much higher mock result than today, Imran has also urged the Department for Education to provide much-needed clarity on how their ‘triple-lock’ system will work by setting out the circumstances in which the mock results that students can trade their final result for are permissible.

Imran also expressed dismay that despite being warned about the unfair impact of the standardisation process, the Government have not followed the example of the Scottish Government, who last week performed a U-turn following the backlash against unfair results in Scotland to drop the standardisation from the process in favour of the initial calculation reached by a student’s teachers.

Speaking on today’s A-level results, Imran said:

“Results day is always one of the most nerve-wracking times of a young person’s life, and it is so even more this year, but despite their hard work, there will sadly be many students in Bradford and across the country who will be incredibly disappointed by results that have been downgraded by an exam board algorithm.

“With many students hoping to go to university this September and many reports from schools that today’s results were much worse than their historical average, the Education Secretary needs to confirm today that there will be a robust, speedy and easily accessible appeals system in place, with students able to lodge their own appeals without relying on their schools.

“The Government also need to urgently clarify the rules around using results from mock exams, as many schools cancelled their mocks in March because of Coronavirus, many carry them out under different conditions, and many students get a much better result in them than they did today. Students cannot afford any more dither and uncertainty from Ministers.

“Instead of an exam board computer algorithm, we should have trusted our teachers to properly calculate a student’s final result based on coursework, class and homework, and any mock exams. They know their students and their capabilities better than anyone and it has been clear from the start that they should have had the final say.”