Nick Ferrari incredulous as Schools Minister awards himself an A-minus
12 August 2020, 08:25 | Updated: 12 August 2020, 08:28
Nick Ferrari asks the Schools Minister to give himself a grade
Nick Ferrari was shocked when the Schools Minister awarded himself an A- for the way the government have dealt with school exams.
A-level students in England are being told their final results will be no lower than their mock exams, thanks to a so-called 'triple-lock'.
It means they'll be able to choose from whichever is highest out of their estimated grades, mock results or optional exams in the autumn. It follows Scotland's decision to switch to using teachers' predictions yesterday.
Nick asked Nick Gibb to give himself a grade, saying: "Minister, you and your colleagues suspended the exams in March. We are now in the middle of August when you take these actions.
"What grade would you give you and your government with how you have handled this - a D or an E?
"Which would it be? You're not seriously going to say you got an A-?"
Mr Gibb responded: "I would be somewhere in that vicinity."
Nick then told him: "An A-? You had April, May, June, July - four and a half months - and you act the night before? And you've got an A-?
"Dear God, what would a D look like?"
Mr Gibb insisted: "We've been acting throughout this period to make sure we have the best model possible.
"We consulted widely on the original standardisation model. It had support, teachers understood it, they submitted their grades in May and June.
"We looked at the data as it started to come through. We have the enhanced appeal system that we announced last week.
"And now today, we're announcing this other form of appeal for a small group of pupils."
Watch the interview at the top of the page.
