ON THE EVE OF GCSE RESULTS BEING ANNOUNCED - DEPUTY MAYOR JOHN MERRY SLAMS A LEVEL DISCRIMINATION

As students await the results of their GCSE's arriving tomorrow, Deputy City Mayor Councillor John Merry blasted the governments A-Levels debacle and has called for apologies for discriminating against students from deprived areas and demanded that the government do more to ensure that students’ futures are not adversely affected by poor management of the exam results.

New figures have emerged from Salford City College which showed that 66% of their teacher assessed A level grades had been downgraded through using the algorithm, despite several years of improved grades at the College. Nationally the average figure for grades being downgraded was 40%.

Since the U turn and grades being based on college tutor assessments, Salford City College has now achieved a 99.9% pass rate, with 88% high grades (A*-C). That puts Salford City College in the top 10% of schools and colleges nationally for value added. 

Councillor Merry said the government should apologise to each and every student for the harm caused by using such a discriminatory algorithm:

Quote

 

“Teachers know their students and their capabilities; an algorithm does not,

“Applying the algorithm did not downgrade many independent and selective grammar schools yet had a significant impact on state schools and college outcomes. It is blatant discrimination and the government has put our young people and their teachers through hell because of it. 

“I know the government has now done a dramatic U turn and thankfully A level students at Salford City College have now received the outcomes that they deserve.  The results now reflect the hard work of staff and students at the college.

“However, students are still living with the consequences of the original decision. Many still don’t know if they can take the university places and other opportunities they have worked so hard for because the exam grading system is in such a mess.  

“Some universities have not yet honoured offers of places that students lost through their results being downgraded. The Secretary of State needs to act on this now or risk going down in history as the person who blighted thousands of students’ lives. We will speak out on behalf of any Salford student that has suffered. It’s time for our young people to get on with their futures.

“We are now waiting for tomorrow’s GCSE results which will be based on school assessment. Our schools and students know they have the council’s full support but the damage has already been done.”