Plymouth City Council set to take legal action over GCSE results
THE fight surrounding English GCSE results has taken another turn with Plymouth City Council agreeing to take legal action.
Plymouth City Council will join a number of local authorities challenging the examinations regulator Ofqual and two GCSE English examination providers Edexcel and AQA over the June 2012 GCSE English results.
The unprecedented legal action will be submitted later this week and is being brought by an alliance of pupils, schools, councils and professional bodies led by Lewisham Council.
The challenge aims for students' papers to be re-graded because the boundary for a grade C in GCSE English was raised between January and June this year. This meant that the exam became much harder to pass for students who took it in June.
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Councillor Nicky Williams, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: "It is absolutely right that we join this fight.
"Students have received lower grades than they rightfully deserve, so much so that we've already written to the Secretary of State to urge him to step-in.
"Now we are one of the councils across the country to challenge the legality of what has been done.
"You can't simply be allowed to change the goal posts half way through a match! It's ridiculous and unjust."
It is hoped that the court will reach a decision by Christmas – subject to agreeing to deal with the issues on an urgent basis.
Last month council leader Tudor Evans and South West Devon Tory MP Gary Streeter raised their concerns with Mr Gove.
David Farmer, chair of Plymouth Learning Trust and headteacher of Plymstock School, said: "I am very pleased the council is supporting the students who could miss out when they didn't deserve to.
"At the moment it seems everyone is trying to move on with the English Baccalaureate but we can't.
"Some students will re-sit exams in November but for many that is not an option.
"How fantastic would it be the students to be given the grades they should have got.
"A lot of Plymouth schools are supporting Plymouth City Council and legal action is the last chance many students will have to get the grades they deserve."
Schools in Plymouth have seen results drop by up to 18 per cent from the change in English marking boundaries.
Achieving a C grade for GCSE English is the minimum requirement for many FE and University courses, meaning thousands of students had to rethink their futures as they couldn't move on to the courses they hoped.
Comments
by John_Ply
Friday, October 19 2012, 12:32PM
“I read this story with interest and I am a bit surprised that the possibility of legal action is now being considered. While I can understand the merits of the objections regarding these GCSE results, particularly if a young persons future is effected. I thought I would share a personal experience of my own.
As a mature person in full time employment, I thought I would have a go at taking one of these GCSE courses and enrolled in an English correspondence course. I completed the course and then attended a local institution in Plymouth to sit the examination. I would guess that there must have been at least 100 students in the main hall, sitting various examinations. The question papers to take the examination were placed on the desk's face down. The invigilator called for silence, informed everyone that they had an hour and a half to complete their papers and then informed everyone to begin.
When I turned over my examination paper to begin, I noticed that it clearly stated on the front that the time allowed was one and three quarter hours and not the hour and a half, as stated by the invigilator. Not wishing to rock the boat, I set out to complete the paper in one hour and a half, which I did.
After one hour and a half had passed, all students were informed to stop writing and that was the end of the examination. A person from the back of the hall then started to walk down the aisles collecting the completed examination papers. When this person went to collect my paper, I pointed to the comment on the question paper, regarding the time allowed. The person collecting the papers stopped his collecting and went onto the stage situated at the front of the hall and spoke to the invigilator. What happened next, amongst the commotion of students talking and the noise of chairs and tables rattling as students were leaving, beggars belief.
The examination papers were then handed back to the students to enable them to use the extra quarter of an hour they were allowed, to complete their examination paper.
As I had set out to complete the paper in an hour and a half all I could do was twiddle my fingers for the time now remaining. I mentioned this to the correspondence tutor, who advised me that I had the right to complain about this. Since I had taken this course out of interest, and not by way of any academic pursuit, I did not bother.
I seem to remember being informed that the standard English GCSE examination as taken in a school or college, was one hour and a half long and a correspondence course GCSE was allowed more time because it was deemed to be more difficult. I am assuming this arises due to no formal lectures involved. This could help to explain why the extra 15 minutes was not given. This memory as stated in this paragraph is quite vague, so I stand to be corrected
As time has passed, I have reflected on this and realised that there were many youngsters who sat this examination on that day, who were done a great injustice and the event, may have blighted their future. I have been careful not to mention the institution involved, as the age of this event makes it hard to prove. Speaking for myself. I am now retired and it is of no consequence to me, but if any young person involved, wished to pursue this matter, I would be only too glad to help.
For my troubles I gained a grade 'C' in English and and grade 'B' for Speaking and Listening.
The examination I refer to was under the 'Southern Examining Group' and dated 'Summer of 96'”
by olddogbreath
Friday, October 19 2012, 8:48AM
“This is all a bit late, isn't it! Some students will do retakes next month and those that have left, have or have not got jobs. If they intended to leave anyway, then are they going to be that worse off.
When I was at school, if you didn't get the result you hoped for, you resat. Yes, this is a mess, but aren't the Council giving hope to some where there may not be any. Why not just appeal and ask for a remark.
This is after all for GCSE results, if going for University then, A levels is the standard to measure by and they are still at school for the resit. If you are aiming for a 'C' then maybe you should work harder and not just aimed for the grade.”