Furious Tories call for Education Sec Gavin Williamson to be sacked over exam grades U-turn

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BUNGLING ministers were tonight forced into a screeching U-turn on the markings fiasco after an outpouring of fury.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson had to apologise and promise A level and GCSE grades based on teacher estimates rather than his computerised system which downgraded results.

Ministers made a screeching U-turn on A level and GCSE marks today

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson was forced to apologise for the fiasco

Hundreds of thousands of results generated by computers have been ditched and replaced by teacher’s predicted grades

Ministers bowed to overwhelming pressure from furious pupils and parents

Angry Tory MPs said the “utter shambles” had shattered confidence in the Government and called for Mr Williamson to be sacked.

Mr Williamson said sorry to students for the “distress” caused after his computer system downgraded teachers’ estimates of the marks they would have got had Covid not stopped exams.

And he promised that hundreds of thousands of A-level and GCSE results will now be torn up and replaced with grades based on the original estimates.

Mr Williamson’s computer-based system downgraded nearly 40 per cent of A-level results — triggering nationwide student protests.

There were warnings tonight that the U-turn could cause fresh chaos by triggering a stampede for university places that are already filled.

Pupils who now have grades for their first choice university could even be forced to take a gap year.

‘BORIS MUST TAKE CONTROL’

Mary Curnock Cook, former boss of the UCAS admission system, said: “There will be some courses that are just physically full and may have to offer deferrals.”

Tory MP Robert Halfon, who runs the Commons Education Committee, described Mr Williamson’s system as “a mega mess”.

But he said the Secretary of State and exam regulators Ofqual had to be dragged “kicking and screaming” to do the right thing.

He said: “This must never happen again. Every cat has nine lives and we have lost one of ours in this fiasco.”

Ex-minister George Freeman said: “People will be scratching their heads and wondering how on Earth this was allowed to happen.”

Statistics suggest private schools did better than state schools

A staggering 39 per cent of A levels were downgraded by a computer algorithm

England followed Wales and Northern Ireland earlier today by announcing the drastic overhaul

While plenty are happy with their new marks, many fear the U-turn could trigger a stampede for university places that are already filled

Mr Freeman suggested that Mr Williamson is now doomed, adding: “Ultimately, the Prime Minister is in charge.

“And I think he will want to take firm control of this and get a grip and show that his Government is taking the life chances of a generation of children seriously.

“I’m told the Prime Minister is planning to reshuffle in the autumn, and I dare say he wants to take everything into account.”

Ex-Tory MP Nicholas Soames was less diplomatic.

He said: “What could have been in the Prime Minister’s mind to appoint so unreliable and wholly unsuitable a man to one of the most important jobs in the Government?

“Mr Williamson told students he was “incredibly sorry.”

He added: “When we came up with this system of calculated grades, what we were doing was to ensure that we were having the fairest possible system.

“When it became apparent there were unfairnesses within the system it was the right thing to act.”

Roger Taylor, head of Ofqual, also apologised.

On Saturday Mr Williamson had insisted there would be “no U-turn, no change”.

But rapidly mounting anger among pupils, parents, and Tory MPs left him no choice.

Mr Williamson apologised for the huge ‘distress’ suffered by thousands of students

Boris Johnson phoned Mr Williamson from his camping holiday in Scotland to discuss the U-turn