A-level farce continues as Ofqual SUSPENDS its criteria for students hoping to challenge their grades just hours after saying appeals could be based on mock exam results

• A statement issued late on Saturday said their previous announcement was being reviewed and that more information would be released 'in due course' 
• Government shared criteria as teachers and students called for clarity on results
• Critics said process is overly bureaucratic as government tried to avoid U-turn
• Welsh government has also confirmed students will be able to appeal grades

The exams regulator for England has dramatically suspended its criteria for students hoping to challenge their A-level grades on the basis of their results in mock exams.

In a brief statement, Ofqual said the policy was 'being reviewed' by its board and that further information would be released 'in due course'.

No reason for the decision was immediately available, sparking confusion for parents across the country and sparked calls for Education Secretary Gavin Williamson to resign.

The move comes just hours after the body published its criteria for mock exam results to be considered as the basis of an appeal.

It threatened to plunge the A-level process into further disarray following an outcry from students after almost 40% of predicted grades were downgraded by the regulator's 'moderation' algorithm.

In a statement late on Saturday, an Ofqual spokesman said: 'Earlier today we published information about mock exam results in appeals.

'This policy is being reviewed by the Ofqual Board and further information will be published in due course.' 

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Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, pictured, has faced calls to resign over results fiasco

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Students wearing face masks take part in a protest in Westminster in London over the government's handling of A-level results, university provision and employment prospects

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Students and parents hold a placards outside Downing Street in London on Friday, after nearly 40 per cent of results were downgraded by the computer model deployed when exams had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus crisis, affecting disadvantaged areas most

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Students and teachers protest outside Downing against the downgrading of A-level results

Adding to the confusion, the Telegraph had reported earlier that teachers' predicted grades could be used by students appealing their results.

However, it is not clear whether this is still the case given Ofqual's latest suspension of the appeals criteria. 

Exams regulator Ofqual had earlier revealed details on how students can appeal against their A-level results using grades from mock tests. 

Ofqual said it would allow non-exam assessment marks to be used to 'make sure this opportunity is available to a wide range of students, including those who had not taken a written mock exam before schools and colleges closed'.

It also confirmed no grades would be lowered as a result of an appeal however the initial set of criteria has now been suspended.

The suspension of their most recent policy has been criticised as causing more confusion amid the results chaos that has resulted.

Stalwart Labour MP Yvette Cooper has said: 'Even more unbelievable chaos & incompetence.

'Young people's futures are being screwed up by this & Govt doesn't seem to have a clue what it's doing.'

Shadow education secretary Kate Green said: 'Gavin Williamson promised to give students a triple lock, but instead he left many devastated by unfair exam results, and now his commitment to give them another chance is rapidly unravelling,' she said.

'Having promised that students will be able to use a valid mock result, the reality is that many will not receive these grades even if they represent a student's best result.

'The latest chaos is the inevitable consequence of this Government's shambolic approach to exams, which saw solutions dreamt up on the back of a cigarette packet and announced barely a day before young people received their results.'

The regulator said mock grades would be valid if they came from appropriately supervised assessments where there was 'no possibility of correction', provided the assessment was produced by a relevant exam board or developed by a teacher in line with a previous exam.

Mock grades must also have been marked in line with an exam board's regular standards and assessments must have been completed and graded by March 20 2020.

Ofqual had earlier confirmed appeals using mock results could begin from Monday and would apply for GCSE, AS and A-level students as well as those taking Extended Project Qualifications and Advanced Extension Award in maths.

The latest setback comes as ministers were braced for a fresh backlash when GCSE results for England are announced on Thursday.

Like the A-level results, they will initially be based on teacher assessments and then 'moderated' by the Ofqual algorithm to bring them in line with previous years' results.

According to the Observer, more than 4.6 million GCSEs in England - about 97 per cent - will be assigned solely based on the controversial algorithm drawn up by Ofqual.

It has been reported the government is expected to face a legal challenge over its results chaos within days. 

Mr Williamson has said the process was necessary to prevent 'grade inflation' which would render the results worthless after actual exams had to be abandoned due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Education Secretary has faced calls to resign from students, teachers and fellow-politicians including the Liberal Democrat acting leader Ed Davey.

Labour has also joined calls for Mr Williamson to resign as MP Rupa Huq said: 'He's out of his depth and should quit. At least he has an alternative career ahead as a Frank Spencer impersonator.'

Critics have complained the algorithm has led to thousands of individual injustices, disproportionately penalising students from schools serving disadvantaged communities. 

Agony of teens left in limbo 

Lucy Lipfriend has been left in limbo for a second year after missing out on her Cambridge University place.

The 19-year-old needed to achieve A*AA in her A-level resits this summer to study theology, religion and philosophy of religion at Clare College.

But the teenager, from Northwood, north-west London, was downgraded to three Bs by the computer algorithm after exams were cancelled.

She believes this was due to her poor performance in last year's A-level exams – which she took when her mother Tina had been diagnosed with breast cancer – being taken into account.

Her grades slipped to a C in philosophy, a B in English literature and an E in maths last summer, despite high teacher predictions. Lucy took a year out, planned to resit the exams as a private candidate, and won a Cambridge offer. After exams were axed, her former teachers at St Helen's, a private day school in Northwood, submitted grades of A*AA.

Three private tutors, who helped her over the last year, predicted three A*s.

But her grades were pulled down and her university place hangs in the balance – depending on her appeal.

Lucy said: 'I've worked really hard for a year and through no fault of my own I haven't been able to get a place at the university I've always dreamt of going to. Grades shouldn't be determined by a computer.

'I don't think you can necessarily base one student's grades on what they may have achieved in the past or what other students that happened to go to their school achieved in the past.'

Lucy says Cambridge has encouraged her to appeal, but she must get her grades overturned by August 31.

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Data revealed that the marks of poorer pupils in England were more likely to be downgraded by the algorithm

 Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, criticised the process, branding it 'surreal and bureaucratic'.

He said: 'This is clearly a face-saving exercise by a Government which has said that it won't do a U-turn on its pledge that moderated grades will stand, come what may.

'Instead, it is attempting to remedy the grading fiasco through an appeals process so surreal and bureaucratic that it would be better off at this point doing that U-turn and allowing original teacher-assessed grades, where they are higher, to replace moderated grades.

'That would be a better approach than this appeals system as it would mean students would get revised A-level grades immediately on the basis of the teacher assessments already conducted, which draw on the very evidence that is now proposed as part of the appeals process.'

He added: 'We don't blame Ofqual for the bizarre nature of the appeals criteria. The regulator has been given a hospital pass by a Government that is in disarray.

'It is time for ministers to stop the chaos and fall back on teacher-assessed grades rather than prolong this nightmare.'

The news comes as the Welsh government has also confirmed students in Wales will be able to appeal against their A-level grades if they are lower than their teachers' predictions.

There has been an outcry in Wales after 42% of all A-level grades were lowered during the moderation process.

Education minister Kirsty Williams had said appeals would be allowed if 'there is evidence' pupils should have received higher grades.

A Level appeal questions answered based on the initial Ofqual criteria

- Who can appeal?

The Government has confirmed appeals using mock results will be open to GCSE, AS and A-level students as well as those taking Extended Project Qualifications and the Advanced Extension Award in maths.

Ofqual said this route of appeal is open to any student with a higher mock grade than their calculated one.

- When can they appeal?

Exam boards have confirmed they will be ready to process these appeals from Monday and students are asked to contact their school or college.

- What work can be used?

In the details released by Ofqual on Saturday, the regulator said that past assessments from the relevant exam board can be used, such as past papers.

Mock exams or assessments created by teachers can also be used as long as they are similar to past exams in the style and content covered.

Marked coursework can also be used if students did not take a written mock exam before their school or college closed, but it must have been completed in the conditions set by the relevant exam board.

It can also be used in addition to mock exam results.

- What conditions are required?

Mock assessments used for an appeal must have been supervised, previously unseen and taken in conditions that ensure the work is the student's own.

This includes invigilation, not having the possibility of corrections or revisions, and students not having access to study materials banned in exams.

The mocks also need to have been taken under timed conditions that match up to the time provided in normal exams, with adjustments allowed for students eligible for extra time.

It must have been completed within the programme of study and by March 20, when most schools and colleges were closed.

- What must the mock assessment cover?

Mock assessments used for the appeal must have 'substantial coverage' of the normally-assessed curriculum, equivalent to an exam paper or one non-examination assessed task.

- What about the centre assessment grades?

Schools and colleges were told to submit the grades they thought each student would have received if they had sat the papers, alongside a rank order of students.

Ofqual said on Saturday the centre assessment grades took the student's performance over the whole course into account, whereas mock assessments do not normally cover the full range of content.

This means if a student's mock result is higher than the centre assessment grade, they will receive the lower grade.

The regulator added that no grades will go down as a result of an appeal.

- What about marking?

The mocks must have been marked using a marking scheme provided by the relevant exam board, or one that matches up to the exam board's marking scheme.

The grade given as a result of the mock must be in line with the relevant exam board's standard.

This can include using the grade boundaries from the exam board when a past paper has been used.

- What do schools need to do?

Schools and colleges need to be able to provide evidence for the entire subject cohort if required.

Ofqual said this includes proof of the marks given, evidence marking was carried out by the deadline as well as the exam paper and mark scheme used.

The student's written paper does not need to have been kept.

The Government previously confirmed schools in England will be able to appeal against A-level and GCSE grades free of charge.

State-funded schools and colleges will also be able to claim back the cost of unsuccessful appeals as well as fees for autumn exams, the Department for Education said.