isc logo  

Daily News Summary
17 August 2020

Year 13 results 2020: Teenagers consider taking legal action over lowered grades
Year 11 results 2020: Fears two million GCSEs could be downgraded
Coronavirus: Campaign launched to reassure parents that reopening schools is safe
Majority of England's cricket team were educated at independent schools

Year 13 results 2020: Teenagers consider taking legal action over lowered grades

 

According to The Sunday Times, some teenagers and their parents intend to take legal action over this year's A-level grading process. By Sian Griffiths, Rosamund Urwin, Gabriel Pogrund, Steven Swinford and Rosemary Bennett. The article quotes Richard Cairns, headmaster at Brighton College, Helen Pike, master of Magdalen College School, Oxford, and Fiona Boulton, chairwoman of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and headmistress of Guildford High School for Girls.

The Independent reports on a demonstration which took place in London over the weekend, where protesters called on the Government to award students their centre-assessed grades. By Clea Skopeliti.

An article in The Times reports Ofqual took down its appeals guidance just hours after it was published, stating the guidelines would be issued "in due course". By Rosemary Bennett. The Government had previously confirmed it would cover the cost of schools in England appealing against exam grades. BBC News.

BBC News reports two colleges at Oxford University have said they will award places to all of their offer-holders, irrespective of their A-level results.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called for a return to teacher assessed grades for A-level pupils "and urgent action to avoid the same injustice for GCSE students". By Samuel Lovett, The Independent.

A report published by Ofqual has found the algorithm used to calculate A-level results predicts inaccurate grades at least a third of the time. By Camilla Turner, The Telegraph. The article quotes Barnaby Lenon, chairman of the ISC.

Tes reports Simon Hyde, the incoming general secretary of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, has called for students to be awarded their teacher assessed grades this year. By Catherine Lough. The article quotes Simon Henderson, headmaster of Eton College.

The Royal Statistical Society has issued a formal complaint against Ofqual, stating the algorithm devised by the exams regulator has failed to "achieve quality and trustworthiness". By Rosemary Bennett, The Times.

Peter Green, headmaster of Rugby School, writes to The Times calling for "major reforms" following this year's A-level results day. The letter can be found a quarter of the way down the page.

According to Tes, the exams regulator did not consider how its A-level grading model could disproportionately advantage subjects with smaller entry numbers. By Catherine Lough. John Craven, chief executive of social mobility charity UpReach, has said there has been "rampant grade inflation" in exams more commonly taken in independent schools "because they're not subjected to the standardisation process". By Taz Ali, The Independent.

The Times reports this year's A-level algorithm may have breached data protection rules, which state individuals have the right to object to automated decision-making. By Jonathan Ames.

An article in The Times reports headteachers have warned that confusion surrounding this year's appeals process could present an obstacle for the reopening of schools in September. By Rosemary Bennett. The article quotes Vicky Bingham, headteacher of South Hampstead High School.

 

Year 11 results 2020: Fears two million GCSEs could be downgraded

 

Headteachers have expressed concerns about next week's GCSE results, after analysis conducted by the FFT Education Datalab research unit found two million predicted grades could be lowered in the moderation process. By Rosemary Bennett and Nicola Woolcock, The Times. The article quotes Helen Pike, head of Magdalen College School, and Alex Hutchinson, head of Woldingham School and chairwoman of the Girls' Schools Association education committee.

According to Ofqual, GCSE grades would rise by nine percentage points overall if teachers' recommended marks were used. By Camilla Turner, The Telegraph. The article quotes Barnaby Lenon, chairman of the ISC.

Lord Baker of Dorking, who first introduced GCSEs in 1988, has said Ofqual should not publish GCSE results this Thursday "as their algorithm is flawed". By Rosemary Bennett, The Times.

BBC News reports GCSE results in Northern Ireland will be decided solely on the grades predicted by teachers.

 

Coronavirus: Campaign launched to reassure parents that reopening schools is safe

 

iNews reports a new campaign, launched by the Government today, will highlight the safety measures being put in place to enable the safe return of pupils to schools next month. By Charlie Duffield.

The Local Government Association has urged parents to ensure their children receive their routine vaccinations where possible to avoid putting "unnecessary added pressure on the NHS". By Jenn Selby, iNews.

The Sunday Times reports new resources have been developed to equip teachers in Scotland to support children who experienced domestic abuse during lockdown. By Jason Allardyce.

 

Majority of England's cricket team were educated at independent schools

 

The Sunday Times reports nine out of the 11 players on England's cricket team attended independent schools. By Shingi Mararike.

 
The Sunday Times

 

The Independent Schools Council (ISC) monitors the national and educational press in order to keep independent schools up-to-date with relevant education news. The DNS is a service primarily for schools in membership of ISC associations, although other interested parties can choose to sign-up. We endeavour to include relevant news and commentary and, wherever possible, notable public letters. Where capacity allows, we may include links to ISC blogs, press statements and information about school or association events. News stories are selected based on their relevance to the independent sector as a whole. Editorial control of the DNS remains solely with the ISC.

Sign-up to the email service is available on our website.

Members can contact the ISC if they know in advance of news, letters or opinions that are likely to feature in the media, or are aware of existing coverage which they would like to see featured in the DNS.

Headlines and first-line summaries are written by the ISC with the link directing to the source material. You should read and comply with the terms and conditions of the websites to which we link.