Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“Yesterday I said that the issue around this year’s A’ level results was fundamentally a simple one – does CCEA trust the teachers or not? It is clear from a number of extremely distressed calls to my office this morning, including one from a GP who was deeply concerned about the mental health impact this shambles could have on pupils, that CCEA did not. I am hearing stories of pupils being marked down from a predicted B to a D and straight-A students potentially missing out on courses like medicine at Queen’s because CCEA has overruled the teachers.
“Putting the failings of pupils in previous years on the students of 2020 who never got the chance to sit examinations was always an intolerable way forward. The Executive and particularly the Education Minister who has sat back and allowed this situation to develop must, however belatedly, act. We need to follow the Scottish example and do so quickly so as to bring clarity for both students and the university sector. The current situation is unsustainable. There is clearly no public confidence in the way CCEA have gone about this. The Minister should act now rather than wasting any more time. Evidence-based teacher predictions must be reinstated. Everyone recognises that that is not a perfect solution but it is surely the best way forward at the current time.”