ISC statement: Independent schools and missed grades

Barnaby Lenon, chairman of the ISC, said: “The Sunday Times article, 25th July, misrepresented my comments on pupils who might have missed university grade requirements. Any pupil – in any school – who has suffered particular hardship through the COVID period through bereavement or illness or other special circumstances should be fairly treated.

“A few schools in the state sector and the independent sector will be putting the case for a small number of individuals so that these special circumstances can be taken into account. It is completely normal for schools to send important additional information to universities that was not contained in the UCAS reference, in both state and independent sectors. Indeed some universities have specifically requested this information from schools.

“The ISC is not aware of large or increased numbers of special circumstances this year but there will always be a few pupils who have particular difficulties to overcome that might affect their grades and schools will want to alert universities to this without breaking any of the rules over disclosure of grades. It is not a sector-specific issue.”