Report to the People
Exam Results
I don't know how many of you remember receiving your exam results. But, for those of you who do, you will recall that it is a particularly worrying and anxious time. Your entire future, or so it seems, hinges on the contents of the brown envelope which is soon to land on your doormat.
This year, however, the stress on students has been heightened by the exam results fiasco. This does not only affect those young people going on to Higher or Further education, but those leaving school and looking for their first job.
Let's not mince words. This has been a shambles. And, predictably, the opposition parties could not resist making political capital out of the students' misery. But, if we are to put this situation right and begin to restore confidence in the examination system, we must look above the political fray and take firm, swift action.
Our immediate priority must be to sort this mess out and award students the qualifications to which they are entitled. We must also make sure that no students lose out in the university clearing system as a result of this blunder.
Thankfully, it seems that, at the time of writing, the worst is over. 95% of students have the correct results and all those with conditional offers of university or college places who meet their requirements will not lose those places.
Secondly, we must investigate why this shambles arose. The people charged with running the system have rightly paid the price with their jobs. But it is not enough to dismiss failing staff, however senior. Was it data management, Higher Still, the structures or computer systems which allowed these senior managers to fail? Only when we understand why we ended up in this unacceptable position, will we be able to ensure that it never happens again.
A major regret of this entire episode is that, amongst the confusion and recriminations, we have lost the central point. We have established a new system of examinations which actually recognises and reflects pupils' achievements and ability. This is surely far fairer than only assessing students' ability to perform over a couple of hours in an examination hall.
We now have in place the framework of a fairer form of academic assessment. But, no matter how perfect the theory, it is worthless if it breaks down in practice. This must never be allowed to happen again.
We owe this, at the very least, to our young people.
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