Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “The government has decided to rely on centre assessed grades for A level and GCSE results this year, agreeing that these are the most reliable measure of student performance. School leaders and teachers worked with professionalism and integrity to submit these grades for all of their students. Having taken so long to make a decision, this was the only option that government had left to deal with the unfairness.

“This decision will mean students expecting their GCSE results can have confidence that they will not experience the same unfairness or disadvantage as their older peers.

“The big question remains as to why this decision has taken so long to come, as it may already be too late for some A level students who have already missed out on their first choice of university and course. Every day of delay is going to have loaded more and more difficulty onto universities and their capacity to meet all of the demand for places that will now inevitably come their way. For them, the problem is far from over."

Press and Media contacts:

Steven George
NAHT Head of Press and Media
01444 472886
07970 907730

Rose Tremlett 
Senior Press Officer 
07545 354363

Email : press.office@naht.org.uk