The head of England’s exams regulator Ofqual has resigned in the wake of this summer’s A-level and GCSE results fiasco, the organisation has announced.
Sally Collier’s departure came as prime minister Boris Johnson admitted that the government “might have done some things differently” on school qualifications in a year when coronavirus prevented the usual exams from taking place.
And education secretary Gavin Williamson faced immediate calls for him to follow Ms Collier’s example and fall on his sword. Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman Layla Moran said Mr Williamson “is simply not the person to deliver a safe return to schools and must resign”.
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School leaders’ union ASCL wrote to the education secretary calling on him to commission an immediate independent inquiry into what went wrong.
The Ofqual chief regulator had been due to face a grilling from MPs on the House of Commons Education Committee next Wednesday over the chaos surrounding exam results, which initially saw an algorithm downgrade nearly 40 per cent of A-level pupils’ predicted grades. Amid fury among parents and pupils, education secretary Gavin Williamson was forced into a U-turn which resulted in a massive increase in passes and inflated results compared to previous years.
In a statement, Ofqual said that Ms Collier had decided that “the next stage of the awarding process would be better overseen by new leadership” and was stepping down after four years in post.
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PA
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The Daily Telegraph/PA
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PA
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Fields of echium and borage in full flower near the town of Thaxted in Essex
PA
43/50 13 July 2020
People ride a rollercoaster in a theme park next to Southend pier. Many businesses in tourism and hospitality have been able to reopen after some lockdown measures were eased
Getty
44/50 12 July 2020
West Indies’s John Campbell and Jason Holder celebrate winning the test as England’s Rory Burns and teammates look on dejected
Reuters
45/50 11 July 2020
Chicldren play in the water during a cricket match between Abinger and Worplesdon & Nurpham in Abinger Hammer, Surrey
Reuters
46/50 10 July 2020
People gather for the funeral of Dame Vera Lynn in Ditchling, England. During World War II she travelled to the frontlines, including Burma, entertaining British troops and boosting morale. She died on 18 June at her home in West Sussex
Getty
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Artist Anish Kapoor looks into his sculpture ‘Sky Mirror’ at Houghton Hall, King’s Lynn, ahead of the opening of his largest UK exhibition of outdoor sculptures
PA
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Players take a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement on the first day of the first Test cricket match between England and the West Indies at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton
AFP via Getty
49/50 7 July 2020
A circus performer from the Association of Circus Proprietors in Whitehall, London. The association handed a petition to Downing Street to ask Prime Minister Boris Johnson to allow circuses to reopen
EPA
50/50 6 July 2020
Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland, which re-opened to the public after being closed due to the coronavirus lockdown
PA
She is replaced on a temporary acting basis by her predecessor Dame Glenys Stacey until the appointment of a permanent chief regulator in December. Dame Glenys will be supported by a new committee of the Ofqual board, chaired by Ofsted chief executive Amanda Spielman.
A Downing Street spokesman yesterday said that Mr Johnson was “sorry” for the distress felt by students who were initially given grades below the requirements for their chosen university courses, in many cases because Ofqual’s computers adjusted results in line with their schools’ performance in previous years in a way which favoured private schools.
Speaking during a visit to Devon today, the prime minister said: “I mean you think about the people that have done their A-levels, their GCSEs this year, they’ve been in many ways a remarkable generation.
“They’ve had to stay at home, which has been difficult, it has posed risks, as I say, to their health, to their mental health, they’ve done a fantastic job, they’ve protected the NHS, they’ve helped to save lives, to get us through this pandemic and I’m just pleased that they now do have results that they can work with.
“And yes, you know if we had to do it again, we might have done some things differently, I’m certainly not going to deny that.
“But they’ve got a series of results that they can certainly work with and use to develop their careers.”
Ministers and regulators have been accused of ignoring the warnings of a Commons Education Committee report on 11 July, which highlighted the danger that Ofqual’s proposed system for awarding qualifications could be unfair on certain groups, including disadvantaged students.
Ofqual chair Roger Taylor will now face a grilling the committee on 2 September without Ms Collier. Mr Williamson will also be held to account for his part in the affair when he gives evidence to the committee on 16 September.
The education secretary was facing growing calls to step down. He has so far dodged questions over whether he offered Mr Johnson his resignation.
Ms Moran said: “It is incredibly disappointing that Gavin Williamson has refused to take responsibility for the combination of initial school return failure and the more recent exam fiasco and has instead allowed to let someone else take the blame.
“He has lost the trust of students, parents and teachers who he failed to consult, leaving universities and colleges in chaos.
“Meanwhile the prime minister is still yet to apologise for the stress and harm his government caused to students, parents and teachers.
“Gavin Williamson is simply not the person the deliver a safe return to schools and must resign.”
And Labour frontbencher Bill Esterson said: “Sally Collier, head of Ofqual, has done the decent thing, accepted responsibility for the exam fiasco and resigned. How can it be right that Collier has resigned but education secretary, Gavin Williamson hasn’t?”
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “This move follows the failure of the statistical model that led to this year’s grading fiasco, but the fault is not hers alone.
“Ministers have questions to answer over the extent to which they scrutinised and challenged the methodology and reliability of the statistical model, particularly given the enormity of the task and the importance of getting it right.
“Schools and colleges put their trust in the government over this matter, dutifully followed the processes advised by Ofqual, and now feel badly let down by the ensuing debacle. They deserve some answers and so do their students.”