Morley schools to appeal over GCSE ‘fiasco’
MORLEY’S three high schools are to help mount a legal challenge over GCSE grades which meant hundreds of pupils were denied a C in English, threatening their future education and employment prospects.
This year there was a fall in the proportion of GCSEs awarded an A*-C grade for the first time since the examinations were introduced 24 years ago but the drop in the numbers gaining a good grade in English has led to protests across the country.
On Tuesday Leeds City Council met lawyers to discuss plans for a legal challenge and today representatives from the council and Leeds schools were due to meet with those from Ofqual, the examinations regulator.
Ofqual is to set out its initial findings on the row today.
Coun Judith Blake, executive member responsible for children’s services said: “This fiasco will have a devastating impact on so many young people’s futures, through no fault of their own.
“This means that some students could be denied places on apprenticeships or college courses because of their English grades and this just is not right.
“I am outraged that the lives of young people are being played around with in this way.
“The unfair method of grading the English GCSE by AQA is also decimating the overall results of many schools and could mean some are now not hitting their floor targets when yesterday they were confident they would.”
The chairman of governors at Morley Academy, Terry Elliott, said the academy was at the forefront of calls for a review of the way examinations board AQA distributed grades after allegations they raised the bar halfway through the year.
He said: “It isn’t about trying to get better grades to improve school statistics it is about the unfair effect this has had on the young people we are responsible for.
“An estimated 600 pupils in Leeds alone have been deprived of a pass grade, they have gone from a C to a D, and that of course has a dramatic effect on youngsters wanting to go on to college.”
He added: “The possibility of a legal challenge is significant if nothing is done about it and I don’t think they have any alternative but to do something to put the matter right. If they don’t it is going to run on for a long time.”
Woodkirk Academy and Bruntcliffe are also appealing after seeing a drop in their English marks.
Lisa Fox, deputy headteacher at Bruntcliffe said: “The school is extremely concerned for those students who have been affected by this preposterous political game.
“These students now face the prospect of not following their planned post 16 pathway.
“The significance of a student dropping to a grade D in English or mathematics instead of a grade C has a major impact, far more than a student who drops from an A to B or D to E.”
A spokeswoman for AQA has said all exam boards raised grade boundaries this year to maintain standards.
Ofqual said they would look closely at concerns over the GCSE English results and would be gathering evidence this week before going back to awarding bodies to discuss their findings.
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Monday 20 May 2013
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