Sir Dan Moynihan, whose Harris Federation runs 50 schools in and around London, urged students only to appeal if they think their grades are genuinely unfair, and not to just “take a punt” on appealing.
It comes as an education expert from University College London warned she was worried about a backlash against individual teachers if students are not happy with their A-level grades. They are being based on teacher assessments after exams were cancelled for the second year running due to the pandemic.
As well as having to grade students, schools have been tasked with being the first port of call for appeals. Preparations are already being made for an onslaught, with schools drafting in teachers and subject specialists to speak to disappointed students. There is likely to be a scramble for university places because A-level grades are expected to be higher than normal this year, meaning more students meet their offers. Students who miss out on the grades needed to secure their places are likely to appeal to be in with a chance of grabbing a university place. Sir Dan said: “There is a risk that there will be lots of appeals and schools may be overwhelmed with that. Clearly if there is a genuine perception of unfairness then parents are right to appeal, but there is no point in appealing just for a punt because that will just overwhelm schools.” Students must appeal first to their school to see if an administrative error has been made. It can then be passed to exam boards to decide if there was an “unreasonable exercise of academic judgment”.
The Department for Education said exam boards will not be able to consider appeals that are based solely on a difference of opinion. In its guidance, the department said teachers would have already told students what evidence they were using to determine grades, so students had the chance to raise any issues before grades were submitted.
Dr Amelia Roberts, deputy director at UCL’s Centre for Inclusive Education, said: “I am quite worried about the backlash on schools when people aren’t happy with their grades. Normally grades are determined by a faceless system, but I worry very much for the physics teacher and the history teacher who families and students think have not been fair to them.
“Students and families may not fully know about all the rigours and checks that went into making things fair. Teachers and schools are at risk of personal attack.”
