Students face fresh chaos as BTEC grades pulled in last minute U-turn

Hundreds of thousands of UK students face a fresh wave of exam chaos after schools and colleges were told not to issue BTEC results on Thursday in a last-minute U-turn.

Exam board Pearson has asked schools and colleges not to publish level 1 and 2 results in the vocational qualifications to give them more time to recalculate the grades.

The move affects 450,000 pupils, 250,000 of whom received grades last week, the BBC reported.

It follows the announcement that GCSE and A-level students would this year be able to receive grades based on their teachers’ estimates.

BTEC students’ grades were not included in the original announcement, but now Pearson has said it will be regrading BTECs awarded last week, as well the grades that were due to be released tomorrow.

Labour and education unions had demanded clarity for students, parents and universities after the U-turn as party leader Sir Keir Starmer branded the Government's handling of the situation "incompetent".

A spokeswoman for Pearson, the provider of BTECs, said: “Following Ofqual’s announcement that A-level and GCSE students are to receive centre-assessed grades, we will be applying the same principles for students receiving BTEC results this summer.

“We will be regrading BTECs to address concerns about unfairness in relation to A-levels and GCSEs and ensure no BTEC student is disadvantaged.”

Students protest the downgrading of A-level grades in Parliament Square
PA

She added: “We know this could cause additional uncertainty for students and we are sorry about this.

“Our priority is to ensure fair outcomes for BTEC students and we will work around the clock to provide revised grades as soon as we can.”

Kate Green, Labour’s shadow education secretary, said: “This latest chaos is totally unacceptable.

“For some young people to find out less than a day in advance that they will not be receiving their grades tomorrow is utterly disgraceful.

“It’s appalling that thousands of young people should face further confusion and uncertainty because of the Government’s incompetence.

“This repeated chaos is simply no way to run a country. The Government must urgently set a clear deadline for every young person to receive their grades.”

On Tuesday, exams regulator Ofqual said its moderation algorithm used in A-levels and GCSEs was not used in the majority of vocational and technical qualifications (VTQ) – including BTECs.

But in a statement on Wednesday night, just hours before results were due to be published, England’s exams watchdog said some exam boards, including OCR and Pearson, will “need more time” to recalculate results.

It said: “OCR have said that their Cambridge National results will issue next week.

“Pearson, which initially did not think there would need to be significant changes made, has now decided to revise its arrangements to ensure that students’ qualification-level results better reflect the unit-level results that students have already secured through internally assessed units.”

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has apologised to students
PA

Ofqual added: “Everyone is working as quickly as possible to confirm results as soon as possible, recognising the impact that delays are having on schools, colleges and students.

“No learner’s result will go down as a consequence of regrading.”

David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges (AoC), said: “The timing is worrying, because thousands of students were due to get their results in the morning and others have already got results which we know will not go down, but which might improve.

“So it is vital for students that this is sorted in days rather than weeks so that students have the chance to celebrate and to plan their next steps. It is a stressful time and this delay will extend the uncertainties.”

He added: “Those students wanting to move onto further or higher education will be most worried about losing out on places.

“We are in close communication with DfE, Ofqual and Pearson to particularly make sure that BTEC students applying for universities can still be treated fairly.”

Additional reporting by PA Media.

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