Northamptonshire headteachers unite to criticise 'Triple Lock' impact on A-Level Results Day but praise students' hard work

Headteachers across Northamptonshire have praised their A-Level students' hard work despite the unforeseen impact of the Government's system to revise pupils' grades to account for coronavirus.

A-Level results day is marked with excitement and stunning successes for a lot of students.

But this year, due to Covid-19, a new 'triple lock' process was announced as late as Monday (August 10), which means students can accept their calculated grade, appeal to recieve a valid mock result, or resit in a set of exams in Autumn.

It meant a lot of grades received today were based coursework, mock exam results, prior performance in each subject and overall attainment over the past few years - which were then moderated and assessed by external exam boards which awarded the final grades.

Headteacher of Northampton School for Boys Richard Bernard scolded the system that he claimed had been "unjust" to "one of the most exceptional year groups to have graced the school in recent history".

He said in a statement on Thursday: "After a year of great turmoil it has been difficult for the school to accept that such a strong set of students have been unable to prove their outstanding academic ability in the Examination Hall and instead have ended up somewhat at the mercy of a cold and statistically driven national standardisation model which was never going to do full justice to their talents.

"The school is working hard to support any student whose results and university or employment routes have been detrimentally affected by this process."

The criticisms have been echoed by other headteachers across the county.

Guilsborough Academy's headteacher Julie Swales said her school would support any student would believed their grades were not the ones they deserved.

She said: "We are genuinely delighted with this group of students... they have worked tirelessly since their first day in our school.

"Two years of work has been decided by a calculated grade - not all students have received the grades we believe they were capable of achieving and we understand and share that frustration today.

"Staff will do everything they can to support appeals over the coming weeks."

Meanwhile, Moulton School and Science College expressed "frustration" amongst its highest-achieving pupils at lower-than expected results, and Weston Favell Academy praised its students for working through "a number of challenges."

National figures claim however that university placements are higher than average this year,