Sir Keir Starmer has attacked the government’s handling of A-Levels results by using clips of Boris Johnson defending how marks were calculated days before the government U-turned on the system.
Sir Keir has slammed Johnson and his education minister Gavin Williamson over the A-level fiasco.
In a tweet late Monday evening, the opposition leader posted a clip showing Johnson defending the use of a controversial computer algorithm to predict student grades in England as a ‘robust’ and ‘dependable’ system.
The footage also showed the education secretary vehemently promising against an overhaul of the way marks were calculated, despite huge public backlash that almost 40% of scores had been downgraded by one or more grades as a result.
The system has reportedly given pupils in privileged schools better grades those hard-working students in disadvantaged schools, leading to calls the system had educational inequality ‘baked’ into it.
The government has since promised to scrap its approach in favour of using teacher predictions.
In his tweet, Sir Keir described the whole saga a ‘fiasco’ and Johnson’s leadership as ‘holding Britain back’.
MORE: Gavin Williamson refuses to say if he offered his resignation over handling of A-Level results
Responding to the clip, Derek Smith listed other government blunders. ‘So are covid contracts, track and trace, lockdown. Also, brexit, housing and planning, data contracts, immigration, trade negotiations, DfID /foreign office integration,’ he wrote.
Professor of STEM subjects at Leeds University, Samantha Pugh, said: ‘As an employer and student recruiter, I’d be more inclined to trust a teacher grade than one generated via an algorithm.’
Another Twitter slammed the decision not to include B-BTec exams in a review. ‘Not good enough Boris what about the ones on B-Tec? My daughter lost her place at Nottingham uni to be a children’s nurse due to being marked down. 2yrs hard work 150+ hours working on NHS hospital wards. The forgotten students.’
@pearley88 was all for the attack on Johnson. ‘Keep playing their rethoric against the actions, love it,’ he said.
Raoul Concord wrote: ‘Wait till you see how they’ve handled COVID. Spoiler: it’s worse than this.’
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