Headteacher at Wolverhampton school criticises 'standardisation' after A-level results downgraded
A headteacher at a school in the Black Country has criticised the "standardisation" of A-levels after results were downgraded at the school.
Kathy Crewe-Read, head of Wolverhampton Grammar School, said they had expected around 56 per cent of students to receive A or A*s.
But instead only 41 per cent of pupils received the top grades – with some students having to go through clearing due to not getting a university spot.
Ms Crewe-Read, who spoke on BBC Radio 4, said: "We predicted that they would get 56 per cent of As or A*s and that's on the back of GCSE results two years ago.
"And that's put us in the top 25 schools in the country. But we actually found out that we've got 41 per cent of A and A*s results. So we're going to have a lot of disappointed students."
She said the Government method of standardisation nationally didn't take into account the ability of the students – with her calling the cohort one of the "cleverest" in the school's history.
And the headteacher raised concerns over the appeals process – with the grading bodies not releasing any guidance on the process until next week.
She said: "The biggest problem is that the Government has tried to standardise results nationally and A-levels are not about the nation, they're about individual students' performance and progress.
"And what's gone wrong with the standardisation is that the children and their ability and progress is not being measured by the A-level results and it's not being taken into consideration."
