Students call for Education Secretary Gavin Williamson to resign over A Levels U-turn at Millennium Square protest

A group of almost 100 people gathered in Millennium Square despite the U-turn from the Government which was made yesterday.

A-Level and GCSE results will now be awarded based on teachers’ predictions instead of the controversial algorithm which saw almost 40 per cent of students' results downgraded.

But some young people's lives have been left in limbo by the Government's handling of the situation.

Olivia Hullah, who goes to Heckmondwike Grammar School, was predicted A*, A, A by her teachers but on results day was given A*, A, C.

Despite the U-turn, she may well miss out her dream of studying English Literature at Durham University.

By this point most places on my course have been taken," the 18-year-old said. "I've been in contact with Durham today and they are saying it takes weeks for the grades to be put onto UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) which means I'm going to find out weeks later whether I've actually got a place, which I probably won't.

"So while the Government's decision is positive, it it still very much lacking.

"There has been no guidance from the Government of how they are going to put the grades on, so it's all very much in limbo really."

There were chants of "Gav must go" from protesters, but the Education Secretary refused to say if he will resign when interviewed on the BBC this morning.

He added: "I would like to start off by apologising - saying sorry to all those young people who've been affected by this.

"This is something none of us expected to see and none of us wanted to see."

It is still unclear what the U-turn will mean for students taking vocational qualifications, including BTECs.

The protest was organised by two 19 year olds, James Fishwick and Martha Storey.

They made it to university last year but both attended underperforming secondary schools in West Yorkshire, and feel they would have lost out due to the algorithm.

Toni Ledda, who went to Horsforth School, is studying politics, philosophy and economics at the University of Oxford.

She wanted to make her voice heard about the U-turn, but also make a wider point about how young people are assessed in the current system.

"The way it's been handled from start to finish has been a complete shambles and it's also exposed the problems and attitudes that the government already have," she said.

"The algorithm itself and the U-turn proved it's not about how much you know and actually, why are we doing this if your grades can be decided so arbitrarily - how on earth can it decide your place in uni anyway?"

Patrick Murphy, a teacher and member of the Leeds branch of the National Education Union (NEU), told protesters: "It's a disgrace that you had to fight to get the results that the teachers knew you were worth.

"The exams system is not about developing your potential, it's about rationing opportunities.

"The Government and Gavin Williamson have taught you some lessons in the last few days that we could never do so quickly - lessons like, you don't have the put up with injustice, you can change it."

Catherine Hall, a teacher at St John Fisher in Dewsbury who taught Martha Storey, told the YEP her school had "suffered" under the algorithm due to it being in a deprived area.

But, she added, the 'centre assessed grades' decided by teachers are still unlikely to be a true reflection of current students abilities as they have to be based on school results from the past three years.

She added: "There will still be students - individual human beings - whose promise and ability is not going to be recognised by the grade they get.

"There are students that are losing university places as a consequence and there will be GCSE students who don't achieve as well as they could have done.

"It's time that teachers were trusted again to do their job and return to course work where students can achieve over a period of time, not it all just be based on what happens in a few days, because as we have seen, those few days didn't happen.

"It's time for the system to change and that's why we still need to be protesting.

"This system was brought in by the Tory Government because they did not trust teachers to do their jobs professionally and it needs to change."

*************************

A message from the Editor:

Leeds has a fantastic story to tell - and the Yorkshire Evening Post has been rooted firmly at the heart of telling the stories of our city since 1890. We believe in ourselves and hope you believe in us too. We need your support to help ensure we can continue to be at the heart of life in Leeds.

Subscribe to our website and enjoy unlimited access to local news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Click here to subscribe. For more details on our newspaper subscription offers click here.

Thank you

Laura Collins