Thank you to the many schools, teachers, pupils, parents, governors and worried constituents who have contacted me in the last fortnight about the looming exam results shambles.

With a daughter due to start at University this autumn and a son in Sixth Form, I hugely understand and share the concern at the shambolic mismarking of 40% of the countries exam results, and have been urging Ministers to sort it out and do the right thing by accepting teacher assessed grades instead of relying on an untested bit of software developed by the Department for Education.

I’m appalled by the level of avoidable confusion, anxiety, delay and chaos caused to millions of pupils, families, schools, teachers and people involved in education, and that’s why I very much welcome the Government’s U turn. It’s not before time.

Hopefully this will now mean that the majority of those affected can move on and start to plan ahead with confidence.

Obviously I’m no longer a member of the Government and am hugely frustrated that it has taken Ministers so long to sort this out.

I regret to say that this catalogue of errors in this exam shambles has been hugely damaging to trust in the Department for Education and No10 Downing Street:

1. Mis-assessing 40% of pupils

2. Causing millions of pupils, families, teachers and people in education avoidable agony

3. Stubbornly refusing to accept any problem
((When it was *obvious* to all of us beyond Westminster that there was a looming problem and an obvious solution))

4. The saga has wasted valuable time this summer which is needed helping pupils catch up with lost lessons, sort out post GCSE and A level plans, fix the Further Education and Higher Education places confusion and help avoid COVID19 leaving a generation suffering long term.

5. Most seriously of all, to me, is the injustice of pupils in the least privileged schools being most discriminated against.

As a One Nation Conservative I believe we should be looking to help ensure that children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds have MORE chance to access the life-changing benefits of great education.

So.

I’m pleased that the Government has finally taken the right decision.

But very sorry it has taken this long.

Rest assured I will continue to raise concerns with Ministers. Please don’t hesitate to send in any further / future problems.

To see my most recent work on this issue, please see links here to:
1. My interviews yesterday afternoon on why this U turn was needed:
Times Radio: https://youtu.be/BToeOQnjzGc
BBC Radio: https://youtu.be/AcpkWfxluy0