Oak ‘extremely proud’ of A-level students

MELKSHAM Oak School’s principal has said that the school is ‘extremely proud’ of its A-level students who received ‘wonderful results’ last week, despite the national controversy surrounding the ‘downgrading’ of results.

Students across the country have been in turmoil since receiving their A-level results. Because they were unable to sit their exams due to the Covid-19 pandemic, their results were originally going to be based on predictions of teachers. 

However, many results were downgraded by exams regulator Ofqual, using a formula based on schools’ prior grades. This week, in a U-turn, the government is going back to teachers’ predictions. As a result, many students are now scrambling to grab university and further education places.

Prior to the government U-turn, Melksham Oak’s principal said, “This academic year has been testing in ways different to any years before, and all of the staff at Melksham Oak are extremely impressed with the resilience of every student receiving their A-level results.

“The school closures put a lot of pressure on our students and required them to quickly adapt to a new way of studying. Our students have made us proud with how they’ve embraced independent study, and this will benefit them in their future studies and endeavours.

“We are extremely proud of our A-level students who have achieved some wonderful results this year, and delighted to hear that so many of our students have been successful in being accepted into their first choice destination. We realise that this year, more than any other, there has been a huge degree of uncertainty and anxiety for those students waiting for results today.

“We believe that there is a bright future ahead for every student, and we are here to provide them with the support to face that future with confidence. Staff and teachers will be available to support all of our students over the coming days with any questions they may have.”

Executive secondary director of the White Horse Federation – which manages the school – Chris Belli, added, “Despite the huge challenges this year, we are pleased that the students of each of the schools within The White Horse Federation will leave rounded and very well-educated. The overwhelming majority of our students achieved well and have secured their first choice destination, with almost every student applying for higher education now placed and their destinations confirmed. Impressively, the majority of our schools have continued their improvements across a number of key performance indicators, and this is testament to the hard work and talent of the staff in supporting each of our students.

“The current pandemic has presented us with highly challenging and unforeseen circumstances but ,despite all this, we have gone to great lengths to do all that has been asked of us by the government to demonstrate fairness and accuracy in submitting “Centre Assessed Grades” (CAG). Our teachers have brought their many years of experience, professionalism, and long track record of accurate predictions to ensure that the process was carried out thoroughly, accurately, and fairly.

“However, the statistical model used unfortunately lacks the sophistication to take the above points into account importantly, and this has left a number of our students unfairly penalised. We will be supporting all our students to appeal against the decisions and hope that this will lead to at least some grades being readjusted.

“Whilst there are mixed emotions during this difficult period, we are truly blessed to have such a close community within The White Horse Federation, and we look forward to celebrating the GCSE results with our year 11 students this week.”