A Biddulph councillor and teacher has criticised the Government's handling of this year's A-Level results, saying that students and teachers have been left feeling "undermined and undervalued" by the controversial way that grades have been awarded.

Cllr Jill Salt, who teaches Health and Social Care at Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College and also sits on Biddulph Town Council and Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, criticised the algorithm used to decide this year's A-Level results, and felt that working class students, or those from less prestigious schools, had been unfairly left behind.

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, students sat no A-Level exams, with grades instead being awarded after teachers submitted their students' predicted results to exam boards.

However, the results have been a source of controversy, with around 40% of results being downgraded, and exams regulator Ofqual using an algorithm based on schools' previous results.

Pressure is now mounting on education leaders to let the teacher-assessed grades stand as they were originally submitted.

Cllr Salt told Biddulph Nub News: "Our students have not been treated as individual human beings on a case by case basis. They've been awarded grades via an algorithm that favours smaller cohorts and historical data. They have lost out and had their plans changed.

"One student now faces a foundation year and an extra £6,000 of debt because they were moved down a grade. Another has lost their place completely at university and faces a 2021 start by the time their appeal is heard."

She also criticised the "triple lock" process, which the Government said would give students more security over their results.

Through this process, students could accept their calculated grade, appeal to receive valid mock results, or sit their exams when schools resume properly in the autumn.

But Cllr Salt felt there was a "lack of detail" in the process, saying: "We have not even had the guidance from Ofqual as to how we even use mock grades to get this so called 'triple lock'.

"Meanwhile students who did achieve (mainly those from the independent sector or those studying subjects with smaller cohorts) have hoovered up all of the top university places - leaving working class kids taught in state institutions like mine behind and missing out on prestigious university offers at places like the University of Manchester. Teachers are heartbroken, because there is absolutely nothing we can do.

"As I said, we can't even properly advise students because we have no detail on this 'triple lock' - it's not even been published. We also feel undermined and undervalued. I work with people who hold PHDs in their subjects and masters qualification in education.

"I myself have 16 years' experience as a teacher, a degree and three different post-grad qualifications. Plus, I know my students on an individual level. This system has paid no regard to that whatsoever. All of my careful evidence gathering and agonising over rankings in the end meant nothing.

"I've had emails from students who are gutted, absolutely gutted. They didn't fluff their A-levels, they didn't sit them due to Covid and now a computer generated grade decides their future."

She also spoke more about the "outrageous" process of adjusting down A-Level grades from teachers' original submissions.

She continued: "Grades have definitely been adjusted down - my own data confirms this. It's outrageous.

"Remember an exam is a chance for students to remember specifics from two years worth of information. Some will do badly in that environment and get an E. They'll do badly because they revised poorly on that aspect or they misread the question, or they split up with their boyfriend the night before or they had a row with parents, or they didn't eat lunch or nerves got the better.

"This year no-one sat an exam. Therefore we are grading their ability using a variety of evidence and grading them on a subject level from essays, homework, mock exams, class performance, or mini tests. Therefore our grades as teachers should be accepted.

"Why is the Government so insistent that data is comparable to last year's exams when no exams have been sat, and when this year compares to nothing seen before?

"Grades have not been adjusted fairly, it is a fact that if your cohort is small and your school's data is historically good, then your grades this year will be too. This year all of our Year 13s were on an even playing field for the first time ever - no one sat an exam.

"Yet those in private institutions came out better. This is not speculation; you see it in the government's own data. That's not to say all private school kids had their grades go up but kids from institutions in less affluent areas with larger cohorts came out worst. The data shows it."

Cllr Salt also provided specific examples of students she knew who had been particularly affected by this year's results.

She added: "I predicted a Distinction* for one student and they got a Distinction because their exam module dropped a grade from a Distinction to a Merit. There is no way this kid would have got a merit in that exam and we have ample internal evidence that proves it. But the algorithm doesn't care about evidence - just the postcode, historical data, and their prior GCSE achievement. I hope their appeal is granted (if and when the Government tell us how to use mock data to change grades.)

"Another had already sat and passed the six exams that make up their course. I forecast them a grade profile of Merit, Merit, Merit, they got Merit, Merit, Pass. They can't use mock grades because the grades I forecast were for coursework units! The coursework sits on my computer marked and complete. The student finished it, but the algorithm doesn't care or even ask. This student has no grounds for appeal and can't sit an exam in the Autumn or rely on a mock grade as the units were for coursework."

Summarising, she called the whole situation a "mess", and said that teachers should have been trusted to know their students' grades best.

She said: "It's a mighty fine mess, easily solved by trusting the professionals. These kids have suffered enough in the year of 2020. Wrong higher grades gives people an opportunity. Wrong lower grades ruins children's lives, especially those poorer children."