Julie Richardson, the headteacher of Verulam School in St Albans, said her pupils would be “disappointed” if predictions from the University of Buckingham of a 10% drop in A and A* grades come true next week. The ‘Covid generation’ of Year 13 students have faced two years of disruption, including the 2020 upheaval in GCSE results – when the government agreed to award grades from teacher assessments after the use of an algorithm resulted in nearly 40% of predicted grades degradation. “That was rectified, but it caused considerable pressure on the Year 11s at the time. This will not be forgotten, so they will feel incredibly hard from the if [they receive lower grades] next week,” he said. “My biggest concern when it comes to our students, if results are 10% lower, is the impact it could have on their mental health and wellbeing. They have already gone through considerable stress at GCSE.’ Although there have been no lockdowns this academic year, there is still disruption due to staff taking time off to recover from Covid and the stress caused by the pandemic. Richardson said her school – like many others – had significant staffing issues, including a long-term absence of a religious education teacher. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. While her staff will be on hand to advise students on how to get through the liquidation if they lose their university place, she said many would be disappointed. “I think it’s very difficult for young people when they have their heart set on going to a certain institution. It’s very difficult to get them to understand that there are other options and that it’s not a lost cause.” Maija, a teacher at a state school in Portsmouth, said she felt “very nervous” for her students next week. “All the offers my students have received are for really high grades and it’s really hard to say right now what will happen. My hope at the moment is that universities will be flexible in their offerings.” She said four of her students who did not expect to meet the terms of their offer were already planning to take a year and reapply the following year, which is unusual at her school. He felt that some students were underperforming because online learning was not up to the same standard as in-person lessons and they had been deprived of the exam experience of their GCSEs. “I know a lot of teachers did their best. I tried my best but the content I delivered is not comparable to what you can do face to face. Even the best students said they opened the lesson and then closed it. It is very difficult to follow. They had a full schedule and a lot of learning was lost,” he said. “I think most of them, if you talked to them, would say they got an unfair deal. On the other hand, they are all in the same position. Most of them understand that it’s not their fault, but some life choices were taken away from it.”
