Headteachers 'Disappointed' At GCSE Findings

Headteachers have threatened legal action over controversial GCSE English results after the exam regulator Ofqual said the qualification would not be re-graded.

Ofqual has said there was nothing wrong with the marks given for this summer's English exams.

In a report released on Friday afternoon, the regulator admitted grade boundaries were higher in June than they were in January, but insisted it would be "inappropriate" to re-consider either of them.

Instead, students who gained their English GCSE this summer will be given an extra chance to re-sit exams or re-submit work in November.

But the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) said it was not "acceptable or practicable" to make the students re-sit exams.

It warned it could begin a legal challenge against grade boundary changes on the grounds that it had disadvantaged certain groups of students.

Brian Lightman, the general secretary of ASCL, told Sky News that the Ofqual findings were "extremely disappointing".

"We're very concerned indeed. The fact of the matter is that the standards that were applied during the GCSE year were inconsistent...and clearly the whole exam has been compromised by that," he said.

Mr Lightman added: "There are students who are not getting into their A-level courses. There are students who are not getting into apprenticeships or into their college places.

"Surely that is just the sort of disservice we cannot afford to do to the young people in our education service. These students have worked really hard. They've done everything asked of them and suddenly they've been left down by the system."

Kathryn James, director of policy at the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), said the organisation was "furious" about Ofqual's report.

"We think that this is totally unfair on the students who sat the exam in June," she said.

"We also think it's slightly unfair on the January ones as well, because now what Ofqual is saying is that those who sat the exams in June were graded correctly, and they're casting doubt on the January gradings now, which is not fair."

Ofqual began the investigation into this summer's GCSE English results following an outcry from schools.

As national GCSE results were published last week, angry headteachers claimed that exam boards had raised grade boundaries in English halfway through the year amid fears that too many children were going to get a C.

Ofqual admitted earlier this week that there are questions about how grade boundaries were set in a small number of English units over the year.

Their initial findings found that there had been a "complex and unique set of circumstances" which had come together to "create a highly unusual situation for schools, colleges and their students".

The report concludes that the issue lies with the January grade boundaries, rather than those for June, which were properly set.

"Understandably, schools were over-reliant on the January 2012 boundaries to set expectations as there was little other information available to them," Ofqual said.

Mr Lightman said the ASCL was "actively considering what legal challenge would be a way of dealing with this, although we would much prefer to solve this through other means".

"What we are seeking to do here is get justice for young people who have been badly affected by systemic failures that are not of their making," he said.

Concerns mainly centre on pupils who were expected to get a C but instead got a D, and that this could affect their chances of getting into sixth-form college, or gaining an apprenticeship.

Ofqual chief regulator Glenys Stacey said the regulator looked carefully at how GCSE English qualifications had been awarded this year.

"People were particularly concerned about the June grade boundaries. We have found that examiners acted properly, and set the boundaries using their best professional judgment, taking into account all of the evidence available to them."