Assembly set to be recalled over A-level results fiasco

Education Minister Peter Weir has refused to budge on exam results despite widespread anger over the way A-level grades have been awarded following the cancellation of exams due to the coronavirus pandemic.

With the Assembly in recess and just days to go before GCSE results are announced, a recall petition has now been put forward by the SDLP to “hold the minister for education to account”.

For any recall petition to be successful, it needs the support of at least 30 MLAs.

The UUP and the Alliance Party have said they will back the SDLP’s proposal and the three parties, combined, account for a total of 31 MLAs.

A spokesperson for the TUV also confirmed to the News Letter that party leader Jim Allister would sign the petition if asked to do so.

In the face of a grilling from MLAs on Stormont’s education committee on Friday, Mr Weir insisted that an appeals process would help straighten out problems with A-level results in time for university admissions.

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood, in a statement, said: “Instead of recognising that he made a mistake and working to fix it, the Minister for Education has doubled down. He has chosen blind faith in a deeply flawed algorithm, over trust in our teachers.”

Mr Weir, however, described the process for awarding grades this year as the “least worst” option in the absence of exams and said the exams body CCEA had done “what was asked of them”.

With exams cancelled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, schools had been asked to put together detailed information to predict how each pupil would perform. These predicted grades were then subject to a process of ‘standardisation’ by CCEA.

A new Secondary School Students’ Union of Northern Ireland was formed this week to oppose the current system of awarding grades.

Its president, Cormac Savage, welcomed the backing given to the proposed recall of the Assembly.

“I am delighted the parties are treating the situation with the gravity that it deserves,” he said. “So many young people’s lives have been derailed.”

More than a third of A-level pupils had their calculated results downgraded by CCEA.

The News Letter heard from Lagan College principal Amanda McNamee earlier this week about three students who saw their grades plummet all the way down from B to U — the lowest possible grade.

School principals across Northern Ireland expressed anger and disappointment when results differed from teacher’s predictions for 37% of pupils on Thursday.

There were similar approaches to the awarding of grades in other parts of the UK. But in Scotland the devolved government stepped in to re-instate the initial calculated grades following an outcry from students, parents and schools.

Mr Weir, however, has made it clear he does not intend to follow Scotland’s lead.

“I think the Scottish decision was wrong,” he said at the education committee.

The Minister suggested the “credibility” of the grades awarded in Scotland had been undermined after results were “shifted up automatically somewhere between 10 and 15%.”

The minister added: “No one is suggesting this system is perfect. While there are clearly individual cases, that is where the robust appeals system should be.”

He also declined an invitation from the SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan to order an “independent review” into the process used to award grades.

Mr McCrossan also criticised the lack of information on the precise formula used, saying there had been a “veil of secrecy”.

His party leader, Colum Eastwood, said in his statement that First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill should now step in. “As joint heads of government, it is simply disgraceful that there has been no leadership shown by the joint First Ministers,” he said.

“This is happening on their watch. Therefore, the SDLP won’t just be asking the Minister to sort out this mess but for the joint First Ministers to step up. Students deserve nothing less.”

Alliance Chief Whip Kellie Armstrong said: “The Alliance Party is backing the recall of the Assembly next week. In June when I called for the Assembly to shelve its normal summer recess plans it was exactly to avoid this kind of situation. There is no justifications for taking a break from legislating during a national health and economic crisis and I’m glad my colleague Chris Lyttle was able to so quickly convene a meeting of the Education Committee to allow the process of questioning the Minister to begin.”

UUP education spokesperson Robbie Butler confirmed his party’s support for the petition, saying: “Regrettably what I heard today from the Education Minister and his officials at the committee was an underwhelming response to an extraordinary situation. There are no easy answers, but they could go a lot further than they have to address the dire situation.” He added: “Given the problems with A-level results and the increased numbers involved in GCSEs, every avenue must be explored to get this right.”

GCSE results will be announced on Thursday.