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15 April 2026

Tag: results day

A-level results are no disaster – but the system is not out of the woods

The vast majority of young people who wanted to attend university now can – after that there are some tricky questions, writes Tom Richmond Although A-level results day is always a special moment across thousands of schools and colleges, we should remember that today is particularly special for the young people who took their exams […]

A-level results 2021: Less than 1% of teacher grades changed

Less than 1 per cent of A-level teacher grades were changed after quality assurance checks by exam boards. Student work from 1,101 centres in England – around one in five schools and colleges – had their evidence scrutinised during external quality assurance this summer by exam boards. For 85 per cent of schools and colleges […]

Williamson wants to rush through university admissions reform ‘without legislation’

The government wants to rush through its plans for a post-qualifications admissions (PQA) system for universities “without legislation”, the education secretary has said. Gavin Williamson told the House of Commons today that “we really want to bring PQA forward as rapidly as possible”, and said he would like to do it “without legislation and in […]

Grades boost for maths after NRT showed improved performance

Ofqual has revised upwards its standardised grades for maths pupils after its national reference tests showed a “steady increase” in improvement. First piloted in 2016, the tests involve a sample of year 11 pupils sitting the exams each year in order to monitor, over time, how well cohorts of pupils are performing. The results act as […]

‘We apologise to nobody’ – Gibb defends ‘eleventh-hour’ mocks change

The government will “apologise to nobody” for its last-minute change to the exams system which will offer some pupils the option to use “valid mock grades” instead of standardised results, the schools minister has said. Nick Gibb was defiant when he appeared on BBC Breakfast this morning to defend the change, which was announced late […]

DfE sets out plans to allow disappointed exam students to use ‘valid mock grades’

Pupils will be given the choice of receiving a “valid mock grade” instead of their standardised centre-assessment grade under new plans for GCSE and A-level results announced by the Department for Education. The government has finally confirmed its plans after the proposal to use mock exam grades was briefed out to some newspapers earlier tonight, […]

Labour seeks assurances over GCSE and A-level results amid claims of unfairness in Scotland

Labour is seeking “urgent assurances” from the government that the GCSE and A-level results process in England will treat pupils fairly, amid claims poorer pupils in Scotland were penalised under a similar system. Kate Green, the shadow education secretary, has written to her opposite number Gavin Williamson for reassurances that he “will not allow similar […]