ISC Daily News Summary

Tes and The Guardian are running live updates featuring reaction to this year's A-level results day. The Times reports on a rise in top grades at A-level masking "a broader picture of volatility", with thousands of results downgraded. By Rosemary Bennett, Nicola Woolcock and Ryan Watts. Data released by Ofqual has revealed that 39% of teacher predicted grades were downgraded. By Will Hazell, iNews. Tes reports that independent schools have experienced a "far larger A/A* rise" than other school types. By Catherine Lough.

Duncan Byrne, headmaster of Loughborough Grammar School, and Sarah Raffray, headteacher at St Augustine’s Priory, Ealing, have written to The Times criticising the Government's handling of the grade assessment process. The Sixth Form Colleges Association has called for action from the Government amid concerns its members have been disproportionately impacted by problems with the moderation system. By Fraser Whieldon, Schools Week. Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, has said the decision by ministers to allow pupils to use their mock exams to appeal against A-level grades "beggars belief". By Camilla Turner, The Telegraph. Dorothy MacGinty, headmistress of Kilgraston School, near Perth, said the SQA's moderation process "caused a huge level of unnecessary stress for pupils and a vast amount of work for teachers". By James Tapsfield, Josh White, Daniel Martin and Mark Duell, Daily Mail.

Gavin Williamson has apologised for the disruption children have had to suffer as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and insisted that the exam system is "robust" and "fair". By Katherine Sellgren, BBC News. Welsh education minister Kirsty Williams has pledged that A-level grades this year will be no lower than those that pupils achieved at AS-level the previous year. BBC News.

BBC News speaks to BTEC students as they await their results. By Katherine Sellgren and Judith Burns.

The Guardian has published an "A-level crisis kit", offering advice to this year's students. By Sally Weale. The Independent offers guidance about getting a university course place on A-level results day. By Liam James.

Ministers have been told by universities that they will “soften” the grades they normally require for entry in light of this year's extraordinary circumstances. By Rosemary Bennet, Nicola Woolcock and Chris Smyth, The Times.

An article in The Times suggests that the greater use of teacher assessment in awarding grades in Scotland could give school-leavers north of the border an advantage in the search for university places. By Kieran Andrews and Nicola Woolcock.

A study, led by Public Health England, has found that at the peak of the pandemic children in England made up only one per cent of all Covid-19 cases. By Katie Gibbons, The Times.

Tes reports on the issues independent schools are facing as a result of the coronavirus crisis. By Claudia Civinini. The article quotes Cobis CEO Colin Bell and Julie Robinson, ISC chief executive.