'Risk robbing generation of futures': Fears as GSCE and A-Level results loom across Calderdale

Sue McMahon, former secretary of Calderdale’s National Union of Teachers (NUT), said there needs to be more trust put into teachers and less on the ‘algorithm’, which has been used to predict pupil’s grades.

Students were told they will be marked based on previous classwork, homework, coursework, and mock exams.

Ms McMahon said: “It will be stressful over the next two months. There’s an algorithm being used to total grades.

“This is the third major Government error that schools have to deal with.

"First we had a u-turn on all primary back, yet their own guidance issued wouldn’t allow it.

"Then we had the free school meals debacle, and now at the eleventh hour we have mock grades trumping A-Levels.

"All the changes are a distraction to relieve pressure on a Government that are making it up as they go along and shift the blame on to schools.”

In wake of exams results tomorrow, Keir Starmer made his first visit to Yorkshire yesterday since he was elected Labour leader in April.

The Labour leader spoke to teachers in Wakefield about the system used by Government to calculate grades and based on teacher predictions, which he said could ‘rob a generation of young people of their future’.

It comes after the Scottish government agreed that tens of thousands of results would be altered, after an outcry about downgrading of teacher estimates.

Fears have been raised that up to 40 per cent of A-level results could be downgraded before they are received by students.

However, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has said a new process, known as the 'triple lock', will give added security to the process, allowing students to accept their calculated grade, appeal to receive a valid mock result or sit their exams in the autumn.

Ahead of his meeting with teachers and parents in Wakefield, Starmer said: “Pupils and parents are rightly worried that years of hard work are about to be undone because a computer has decided to mark their child down.

“For too long, the Tories have considered the needs of young people as an afterthought when their needs should have been central.

“It's a blatant injustice that thousands of hard-working young people risk having their futures decided on the basis of their postcode.

“The SNP have been forced into a humiliating U-turn after a shambolic few days.

"With [less than] 24 hours before results are released, I would urge the Prime Minister to change course, or he risks robbing a generation of their future.”

Ms McMahon said: "I feel there needs to be more trust put into teachers when finalising grades, because it’s teachers who knows these young adults best."

Michael Gosling, chief executive of Trinity Multi-Academy Trust, said: "The current system, while not ideal, is relatively fair and the best we can do in such difficult circumstances.

"The government is ensuring multiple data is taken into account, including teacher assessments, and ensuring moderation in a transparent and proportionate manner.

"If an institution feels there are grounds for appeal, it can do so on its pupils’ behalf.

"That seems reasonable and practical to me, especially given what it could look like, for example in Scotland. The situation there is farcical."

The general secretary of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference, Ian Power, has said the injustice faced by this year’s students could even result in the exam boards facing legal battles, if there are no changes made.

Pupils will be allowed to appeal if they believe the moderation process has not been followed correctly and have evidence of bias or discrimination.

Exam regulator Ofqual is being pressured to amend its grading system and appeals process over fears it could unfairly affect students in the long run.

An Ofqual spokesperson said: “Students can appeal through schools or colleges if they believe a mistake.”

Ofqual will publish information on how appeals will operate this summer.