Michael Gove today defiantly rejected calls for a wholesale regrading of the GCSE English exam despite admitting that students had suffered because of this summer’s marking controversy.
The Education Secretary said he had “sympathy” for the thousands of teenagers given lower grades after an order from the exam watchdog Ofqual for tougher marking of papers taken in June.
That decision has sparked furious protests from headteachers and parents and claims that the prospects of the youngsters affected have been unfairly damaged.
But Mr Gove today warned that it would be “irresponsible” to follow the example of the Welsh education minister — who yesterday ordered examiners to regrade papers in his country — and insisted that the move would destroy the credibility of the entire exam.
In an appearance before the Commons education select committee, Mr Gove said that he felt a “sense of regret and sympathy for students who have suffered” but said the problem laid with an exam that he had inherited that was “not fit for purpose”.
He told MPs that the downgrading row was the result of a legitimate attempt by the exam regulator to ensure that standards in this summer’s exam were in line with those of previous years and that any regrading would devalue and discredit the qualification.
He added, however, that there were “lessons to be learned” and vowed to review what had happened in a bid to prevent future problems.
He said: “What happened with GCSEs caused understandable concern ... and I think it’s appropriate we examine what’s happened.”
