A-Level flip-flop has consequences for university admissions

The Independent:

A-level and GCSE students in England will receive grades decided by their teachers following a dramatic u-turn just days after Boris Johnson insisted this year’s results were ‘robust’.

It is not at all clear that the government has thought through the consequences of their serial screw-ups.

Students were declined by universities based on the originally published grades. For today’s flip-flop to be meaningful, they must now have the right to take up offers where they meet the conditions.

  • Will universities be given permission to recruit about their student number controls (SNC) quota?

  • What happens if universities are at full capacity and cannot teach more students in a given subject, but now have students who meet their offer conditions?

  • If universities are able to go above their SNC quota to admit students who now meet their offer conditions, will the government support universities who would have picked up the overflow but now face financial distress?

The only thing that is clear is that it is a miserable year to be an A-level student and a miserable year to be an admissions tutor.

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