Labour MPs have criticised the government’s education policies for causing A-level grades to fall this year.
The national results, have shown a dip in grades due to the end to teacher-based assessments put in place to help pupils during the covid pandemic.
Top grades for A-level results for England, Wales and Northern Ireland have fallen since last year – with 36.4% of all grades marked at A* or A. Last year, this figure was 44.8%.
However, pre-pandemic, only 25.5% of students received the top two grades, so today’s results are up from pre-pandemic levels.
Labour has accused the Conservative government of a “miserable failure to help children recover from the pandemic” and of failing to put in place enough extra measures for this year’s exams. It called the government’s handling of A-Level grades “chaotic”.
Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson took to Twitter to say “labour’s plans would support students, delivering a level playing field. But the Tories have no plan, failing to secure young people’s next steps, failing our children”
This year has seen 4 different education secretaries.
The plan for this year’s A levels was first put in place by Gavin Williamson, who was blamed for the government’s chaotic approach to education during the pandemic.
The plan is now being overseen by James Cleverly who may be given a new role when a new prime minister comes to power in September.
Those receiving A and A* grades were predominantly in the south-east of England, and the lowest percentage of students with these grades is in the north east.
Commenting on the regional disparity in the results, Robert West, head of education and skills policy at the CBI says: “Students have had a particularly challenging couple of years due to the impact of Covid-19. Every school has experienced the pandemic differently. Further and Higher Education institutions, as well as employers, must recognise that students from certain areas may have faced bigger barriers than others, and take this into account when assessing results.”
There was concern that the drop in grades would lead to fewer students pursuing STEM subjects at university, but the progression rate into higher education in subjects within this area has risen compared to 2019, before the pandemic.
Commenting on the statistics, Jamie Cater, Senior Policy Manager Make UK said: “The fact that both the number of students achieving higher grades in A Levels and the progression rate into higher education across all STEM subjects are higher than pre-pandemic levels is great news for manufacturers, who are eager to welcome the next generation of talent into the sector.
UCAS chief executive, Clare Marchant, said last week that the government’s policy of gradually ending grade inflation in order to bring results slowly back to a pre-pandemic level was necessary but “not easy”.
She did also acknowledge that A-level results day was “never going to be pain-free”, regardless of the situation and policies in play.
