Statement on A Level Results

Thursday 13^th August 2020

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR YEAR 13 STUDENTS

It has been a very difficult period for our Year 13 students. They had been working incredibly hard in preparation for their final examinations and, based upon their proven ability and the school’s long standing record of A Level achievement, were on target for great success. Unfortunately, that preparation was brought to a very abrupt end in March 2020 when schools were closed and A Level examinations were cancelled. Based upon such uncertainty, we are delighted that the ability of so many of our students has been recognised as part of this year’s unique grading system. We would like to acknowledge the success of our students and to recognise their hard work and dedication with regard to their A Level studies. We are also thankful for what they achieved in their time at Durham Johnston. They have contributed a significant amount and have always been an excellent year group.  We are thrilled that they will be studying at institutions from Anglia Ruskin to York. They will study in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the USA. They will start degrees in a range of subjects, from Art to Zoology, and will start employment with the Ambulance Service and Royal Navy. As ever, we are very proud of their achievements and know that they will go on to great success in life. 

On each results day there are always issues to address and questions to ask. This has been a normal feature of my 23 years at Durham Johnston. In that time our students, working closely with their teachers, have achieved a consistently high level of academic success. Their attainment has been phenomenal, and each year they make outstanding progress. It was inevitable that the manner in which this year’s results were calculated would lead to discrepancies and the potential for results that might seem inaccurate, confusing or unfair. Unfortunately, that has been our experience this year. As a school we are very concerned about how the school’s historic performance data has been ignored. Our 2020 headline figures are very different to what we predicted and expected for our students. We engaged fully and fairly with the guidance and modelling developed by Ofqual and are very unhappy with how some of our students have been treated as part of Ofqual’s standardisation process. We are particularly concerned as the school’s A Level results are consistently outstanding. To exemplify that high level of achievement, the following table reflects our year on year results since 2017 and also the cumulative total for each grade boundary. The table highlights a pattern of consistently outstanding attainment and incremental improvement in a number of areas. 

Annual Cumulative %	A*	A	B	C	D	E	U
2019	20.3	50.5	76.7	92.4	97.9	100	100
2018	17.3	46.3	73.8	91.1	98	99.8	100
2017	15.9	44.6	77.1	95	100	100	100
Cumulative % over 3 years	17.7	47	75.9	92.9	98.7	99.9	100

 

However, our 2020 headline figures highlight the following lower allocation of grades at each grade boundary.

2020 Results	A*	A	B	C	D	E	U
2020 Count	86	145	145	104	40	16	3
%	16	27	27	19.3	7.4	2.8	0.6
Cumulative %	16	42.9	69.9	89.2	96.7	99.4	100

 

The school’s Centre Assessed Grades have been lowered and the school’s consistently high performance has not been appropriately taken into account, even though all schools were told that past performance was of primary importance in the calculation of grades. There were many concerns raised nationally about the unfairness of linking A Level results to a 3 year pattern of school results. Many school leaders also argued that this would fail to take into account upward trajectories for some improving schools. Somewhat frustratingly, Durham Johnston has both an excellent track record over 3 years (in reality, an excellent track record over 40 years) and clear evidence of incremental improvement between 2017 and 2019. Ofqual have failed to recognise both patterns, which contradicts both their original guidance and the reassurances that were issued in July. As a school, we have done our best in challenging circumstances to try to ensure a rigorous process leading to the fairest outcomes for every young person at Durham Johnston and we feel disappointed that the grades that we have been allocated do not reflect the ability of our students, or the consistently high performance of the school. It is fair to say that students would clearly have performed at a higher standard if they had been given the opportunity to sit examinations.

Therefore, I would like to reassure parents that we are analysing the results very carefully and that we will use all of the available evidence in order to appeal against a standardisation model that has disadvantaged our students. Whilst Ofqual’s approach has affected the school’s headline figures, each change will have had a potentially damaging impact upon individual students and that is unacceptable. The hard work of our students, professional judgement of our experienced teachers and consistently high performance have all been ignored as part of the approach taken by Ofqual. This will clearly be true of many other schools too, affecting large numbers of students unfairly. I will keep students and their families informed as to the action that we take. We will continue to support our students and to celebrate their success, but we will also work very hard so that their true potential is recognised. Our performance is of a consistently high standard and, in that context, the results that our students have been awarded are hard to rationalise or accept.

Whilst it is necessary that I share the school’s initial analysis of results with you, it is also important to note that many of our students have been very successful and it is my great hope that they celebrate with their families and enjoy the day. They have done very well and we are very proud of their achievement. However, all success is relative, and our students have been adversely affected by a model that has failed to reflect their obvious potential. We are proud to be a comprehensive school that firmly believes in social justice, and don’t feel that the success of our students can be properly celebrated until this matter is resolved.

Mr O’Sullivan