The A-Levels and GCSEs fiasco - who was more to blame?
A-Level and GCSE students experienced a very turbulent period ever since exams were cancelled back in March, but particularly over the last few weeks of August, resulting from the effects of a flawed algorithm on pupils’ results, and the withdrawal of these grades a week later. The damage these decisions has caused has not been reversed, however, and many are furious at both Ofqual’s and the government’s incompetence, with the Ofqual chief Sally Collier having announced her resignation and even the permanent secretary of the Department of Education set to be replaced, but there is much debate about who is most at fault. Students’ future prospects and mental health were badly affected, both for those receiving results and those waiting for them during an incredibly uncertain period of time. Although there were bound to be difficulties, the government has had the most agency over both its own decisions and the decisions of Ofqual, and it was the body which primarily decided how grades