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The highest predicted grade is to be given to A-level students in Northern Ireland, Stormont\u2019s education minister said.<\/p>\nThe highest predicted grade is to be given to A-level students in Northern Ireland, Stormont\u2019s education minister said.<\/p>\n
Peter Weir abandoned plans to use centralized standardization following an outcry from teachers, parents and pupils over last Thursday\u2019s results.<\/p>\n
A-level and AS-level candidates will be awarded grades expected by their teachers when they are higher, Mr Weir confirmed, after exams were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n
New grades awarded are expected to inflate by more than 10 per cent as a result.<\/p>\n
The minister said: \u201cConcerns remain over the impact of changes to the qualifications system throughout the United Kingdom and any potential solution offered has its flaws.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, my prime concern is to ensure that young people in Northern Ireland are in no way disadvantaged in comparison to their peers elsewhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cPortability and comparability of qualifications is critical for students, particularly in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhilst standardization is normally an important feature of awarding qualifications, these are truly unique circumstances and this approach is now being adopted across the UK. This is why I have taken this decision today.\u201d<\/p>\n
More than a third of A-level grades issued last Thursday were lower than teacher estimates.<\/p>\n
The major policy shift follows a raging controversy about the system used to allocate them.<\/p>\n
The Stormont Assembly will be recalled from summer recess on Tuesday to debate the furor caused by a centralized formula designed to rule out anomalies caused by individual schools or teachers.<\/p>\n
Mr Weir said: \u201cI have today instructed CCEA (Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment) that all of their AS and A-level qualifications will now be awarded the higher of the grade submitted by their center or the grade calculated by CCEA.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the organization was working to release the revised results to candidates as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n
The minister added: \u201cIn the challenging situation in which we find ourselves, there are no perfect solutions.<\/p>\n
\u201cStudents would have preferred to have taken their exams, but that was simply not possible in the circumstances.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no substitute for exams themselves and recent events highlight the need for a full-time return to education, five days a week.\u201d<\/p>\n
He made the announcement hours after announcing GCSEs would be based solely on teacher predictions.<\/p>\n
A-level and GCSE students in England and Wales will also be given grades estimated by their teachers.<\/p>\n
The proportion of A* to A A-level grades awarded in Northern Ireland last Thursday rose by 2.3 per cent.<\/p>\n
In total, 37 per cent of estimated grades were lowered while 5.3 per cent were raised.<\/p>\n
Zara Meadows from Belfast grammar school Belfast Royal Academy is an AS-level student.<\/p>\n
She attended a protest in Belfast city centre outside the Education Authority on Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n
She said the change of heart was a welcome one.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a real demonisation of teachers which is disgusting.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat needs to change.\u201d<\/p>\n