Responding to Ofqual’s criteria on using mock results in GCSE and A-level appeals, Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said:

“This is clearly a face-saving exercise by a government which has said that it won’t do a U-turn on its pledge that moderated grades will stand come what may. 

“Instead, it is attempting to remedy the grading fiasco through an appeals process so surreal and bureaucratic that it would be better off at this point doing that U-turn and allowing original teacher-assessed grades, where they are higher, to replace moderated grades. 

“That would be a better approach than this appeals system as it would mean students would get revised A-level grades immediately on the basis of the teacher assessments already conducted, which draw on the very evidence that is now proposed as part of the appeals process. 

“It would also give pupils badly needed reassurance ahead of next Thursday’s GCSE results day. 

“We don’t blame Ofqual for the bizarre nature of the appeals criteria. The regulator has been given a hospital pass by a government that is in disarray. It is time for ministers to stop the chaos and fall back on teacher-assessed grades rather than prolong this nightmare. 

“The principle of moderated grading was a reasonable approach which we supported along with many others in the sector. But the simple fact of the matter is that it has created too many injustices.”