Terrified 'Private Pike' minister Gavin Williamson 'is wetting himself' at rumours Boris will REPLACE him as Education Secretary and ‘keeps telling people he knows where the bodies are' after overseeing a year of school, exam and university chaos
- Row erupted as bridge between private and state pupils grows further yet again
- Teacher assessments led to record-breaking grade scores on A-Level results day
- 70 per cent of grades were A or A* at private schools across country, compared to 42 pc at state academies, 39pc at comprehensives and 35pc at sixth forms
- Claimed that private school teachers under 'great pressure' to award high marks
- Department for Education said to be considering scrapping grades in favour of numbered system
- Comes as Tory MP Robert Halfon warned grade inflation was 'baked into' resultsGavin Williamson is said to be terrified for his political career today amid reports he is facing the sack after presiding over a year of school, exam and university chaos.
The lame duck Education Secretary was said to be 'wetting himself' over reports that Boris Johnson is lining up his 'anti-woke' Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch to replace him in the Cabinet.
Williamson is under intense political pressure today after being accused of ruining the credibility of A-levels by 'baking in' soaring grade inflation and allowing a growing results gap between private and state schools.
Mr Williamson, nicknamed Private Pike by critics who compare him to the hapless young soldier in Dad's Army, is said to be fighting plans to take away his Cabinet post.
The former defence secretary, who helped run Boris Johnson's leadership campaign in 2019, is reportedly telling allies he 'knows where the bodies are'.
It came as it was revealed that A-level grades could be scrapped in a massive overhaul of the education system. It is understood the government is looking at possibly replacing the A*-E letter grades with a numerical system similar to GCSEs.
At the same time, the proportion of students allowed to achieve the top grades will be reduced gradually over a period of years until it returns to pre-pandemic levels, meaning there could be years before proper exams return.
Such is the crisis over the number of top A-level grades being handed out - 44% of all entries were A or A* this year with critics saying they are slipping towards 'meaninglessness' - that more universities could demand applicants take bespoke university entry exams.
Mr Williamson's is said to be under threat with Ms Badenoch lined up, 'multiple sources' have told The Times. One said the minister is 'wetting himself about getting the sack. He keeps telling people he knows where the bodies are and [the] PM is too weak to sack him.' Some questioned whether this threat was genuine when yesterday he said he couldn't remember his own A-level results.
Last year the 'vultures were circling' Mr Williamson over his handling of the A-level results chaos, a source said at the time, but after he survived they insisted Mr Williamson is a 'master of finding someone else to chuck under a bus'.
![Gavin Williamson, who famously keeps a whip on his office desk, is reported to have warned that he 'knows where the bodies are and [the] PM is too weak to sack him' over the A-Level results chaos](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/08/11/08/32089826-9881545-Gavin_Williamson_posed_for_photographs_in_his_Department_for_Edu-a-34_1628668505141.jpg)
Gavin Williamson, who famously keeps a whip on his office desk, is reported to have warned that he 'knows where the bodies are and [the] PM is too weak to sack him' over the A-Level results chaos
Boris is said to favour Kemi Badenoch, his equalities minister who has been vocal in her concerns about the the woke-ification of British education. Williamson's allies have previously claimed that Mr Johnson's wife, Carrie, is against him
The number of teenagers getting top grades in A-Levels has risen across the board but private schools are pulling further ahead of state schools, almost doubling the number of As and A*s in the past two years since exams were postponed
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His price for leaving, however, is reported to be Jacob Rees-Mogg's job as Commons leader, meaning he will stay in the Cabinet.
Before entering the Cabinet, Mr Williamson was the party's Chief Whip and tried to cultivate a sinister image with veiled threats to rebellious Tory MPs – accompanied by his pet tarantula Cronus. He also famously was photographed with a whip on his desk.
His allies say this reputation as a master of the dark arts has counted against him ahead of the reshuffle, with No 10 imbuing false meaning to innocent remarks that have been distorted while being reported back to Downing Street.
The Williamson allies also claim to detect the hand of Mr Johnson's wife, Carrie, in some of the mutterings against him, and her friend Kemi Badenoch is seen as a rising star with more women wanted at the cabinet table.
Ms Badenoch has been vocal in her concerns about the the woke-ification of British education.
Born in London to Nigerian parents, she has two degrees and worked in McDonald's to support herself through her studies.
She used a Commons speech to highlight the duty of schools to avoid political partisanship. She does not want white children being taught about 'white privilege and their inherited racial guilt'.
'Any school which teaches these elements of political race theory as fact, or which promotes partisan political views — such as defunding the police — without offering a balanced treatment of opposing views, is breaking the law,' she said, adding that schools should not openly support 'the anti-capitalist Black Lives Matter group'.
Labour has said the Government needs to 'rethink' its priorities after reports that A-levels could be changed to have numbered grades instead of letters.
Shadow education secretary Kate Green told BBC Radio 4's Today: 'I think that is just tweaking the system to get the Government out of a difficult story.
'We shouldn't be just playing around with the grading system here, we should be thinking about the quality of teaching and learning that children are receiving.
'It is not even crossing my radar at the moment. There are so many other greater priorities after a year in which children and young people have seen immense disruption to their education.
'I think Gavin Williamson needs to rethink his priorities and give the right support to children and young people.'
Gavin Williamson has been compared to 'Stupid Boy' Private Pike, played by Ian Lavender, and Frank Spencer, played by Michael Crawford
Ms Green said the problems of not having a standardised assessment system during the pandemic had been 'starkly exposed' by the gap in grades between private and state schools.
She said: 'I think that was an inevitable consequence perhaps of the fact that the Government didn't set down a clear standardised process early on last year and schools, therefore, were really awarding grades in very different ways.'
On a record-breaking day, it was announced that almost 45 per cent of A-level exams had been graded A or A* under the system of teacher assessments.
This was a big rise from the 39 per cent that received the top two grades last year – and a huge increase on the 25 per cent in 2019, the last time exams were run.
But at private schools, an astonishing 70 per cent of A-level entries by fee-paying pupils were graded A or A*. This compared with 42 per cent of entries at state academies, 39 per cent at comprehensives and 35 per cent at sixth form colleges.
The growing disparity drew heavy criticism, with Labour claiming the gap between state and private results this year was the result of the 'Williamson effect'.
One MP told The Telegraph that the growing attainment gap between state and private institutions was a 'national disaster'.
Critics has accused the government of allowing excessive grade inflation over the last two years to let A levels slip towards 'meaninglessness'.
Robert Halfon, the Conservative chair of the education select committee, said that 'a hard rock cake of grade inflation' had been 'baked into' exam results.
And Nick Hillman, a director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, warned that if A Levels became less useful in terms of selection then more universities could demand applicants take bespoke university entry exams.
Sir Kevan Collins said it is 'undeniable' that private schools have more resources than state schools, possibly leading to higher-than-average A-level grades this year.
The former catch-up tsar was asked on BBC Radio 4's Today programme whether he thinks sending children to private school is an 'act of great privilege' or if it is justifiable.
He said: 'I never criticise a parent for doing the best for their children. All parents are trying to do that. And all teachers I know believe in children and are pushing children to do the best they can.
'It is undeniable though that some parents and some children and some schools have more resources and more opportunity with their children than others.
'My agenda has always been how to give every child the very best education, and some of our schools and some of our children just aren't receiving the support they need if we really believe in levelling up and in growing equality rather than inequality in our education system.'
An education expert has said it is 'too early to tell' why there is a widened gap between state and private schools' A-level results this year.
Natalie Perera, chief executive of the Education Policy Institute, was asked by BBC Radio 4's Today if the results reflected a 'historic gap', changes in grading or different ways of learning during the pandemic.
Ms Perera replied: 'It is too early to tell, we just don't have the data or evidence to be able to say definitively what's driven the widening of the gap in results between independent and state schools.
'I think it is likely to be a combination of all three factors you set out.'
She said pupils who had access to a computer and good broadband at home tended to do better, as did those with schools more able to provide equipment for home learning.
Ms Perera added: 'It is likely that we are seeing some of those inequality gaps present themselves in the private and state school gap that we are seeing today.'
A-level grades could be scrapped in a massive overhaul of the education system to tackle soaring grade inflation that led to a record day of top marks in student results. Pictured: Happy students wave their A-Level results after collecting them at Taunton School in Somerset
The Sutton Trust says that the pandemic has 'compounded existing inequalities' in the schools system
In a stark graph, it shows how the proportion of students getting an A or an A* has gone from 17.8% in 2000 to 44.8% this yearIt has been reported that one solution being considered by the Department for Education is to 'reset' standards by scrapping the letter-based grades and moving to a numerical system. This happened to GCSEs in 2014 under reforms by then Education Secretary Michael Gove.
Yesterday Gavin Williamson, the current Education Secretary, said that his department would be 'looking at different measures' to tackle grade inflation, adding: 'There are a whole range of policy options we can look at.'
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'In terms of actually making sure there is a feeling and understanding of the difference between grading where we are currently and grading where we are in the future, that's something we are looking at in great detail.'
A Department for Education source told the i newspaper that the idea was part of 'discussions that are being had within the department'.
However, the paper was told that the process would be gradual, rather than 'jolting back' or a 'sudden shock to the system' that could impact unfairly on next year's cohort.
But no matter what measures are in place for next year, regulator Ofqual and the department have confirmed plans for exams to be brought back.
Any decision taken to tackle grade inflation is expected to be watched closely, as it is likely those taking exams in 2022 will face fierce competition for jobs and university places with the two pandemic-struck year groups that had gone before them.
It comes after a furious row erupted over A-level results last night after the gap between private and state pupils grew to its widest in the recent era.
It has been claimed many private pupils had better online lessons during lockdown than many of their state peers, with better access to IT equipment and more parental support.
Controversially, it has also been suggested that private school teachers may have been under greater pressure to award high grades from parents who are paying customers.
Campaigners said the widening gap risked creating an entrenched educational divide for years to come.
Critics has accused the government of allowing
excessive grade inflation over the last two years to let A levels slip towards 'meaninglessness'
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