Biddulph's politicians and teachers have welcomed the Government's U-turn on A-Level results, but calls have been made to ensure vocational qualifications are also reassessed.

It comes after the decision was made yesterday (Monday), to revert students' exam results to teacher-assessed grades, rather than using an algorithm.

Pressure mounted on education leaders to make the decision as around 40% of A-level results were downgraded by exams regulator Ofqual, which used a formula based on schools' prior grades.

Today, education secretary Gavin Williamson has apologised to students who were affected by the confusion. This week's upcoming GCSE results will also be graded through teachers' own assessments.

Reacting to the news, the Conservative Moorlands MP Karen Bradley welcomed the U-turn in a short statement, saying: "I welcome the announcement that A-level, AS level and GCSE grades will now be awarded based on the "centre assessment grades" from teachers."

Conservative Staffordshire Moorlands District Councillor Joe Porter reacted similarly, adding: "Very pleased that the Government has listened to the thousands of young people who have powerfully made their voices heard in the last few days. A-level and GCSE students in England will now quite rightly have their results based on teacher assessments."

Biddulph Nub News reported yesterday how Biddulph's Labour town and district councillor Jill Salt, who is also a teacher at Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College, criticised the way results had been decided, saying that students "have not been treated as human beings".

Cllr Salt also welcomed today's announcement, but called for the decision to be extended for students who were studying vocational qualifications, such as BTECs.

It's still unclear how these qualifications will be graded, although Mr Williamson has said today that he hopes vocational qualifications will also be graded through teacher assessment in the near future.

Cllr Salt said: "Thousands of students are still shafted as [the U-turn] doesn't include vocational qualifications. This arguably disadvantages the working class even more. We need parity and vocational education needs fighting for - don't forget us!"

Meanwhile, Biddulph High School announced yesterday - before the Government U-turn - that it would be offering Sixth Form places based on its own internal assessments of GCSE results.

A spokesperson for the school said: "We do not know what the GCSE results will look like on Thursday. To support our students, we will honour Sixth Form place offers based on our Centre Assessed Grades."