Sarah Vine tells government: Cut A-level pupils some slack and trust the teachers
14 August 2020, 12:54 | Updated: 14 August 2020, 12:59
Sarah Vine tells government: Cut the A-level students some slack
Sarah Vine has told the government to put more trust in the teachers' A-level predictions and cut the pupils some slack.
The Daily Mail columnist, wife of Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove, said she felt for students who had been marked down.
But she also said she felt Nicola Sturgeon made a U-turn as she has an election coming up and wanted to have the new voters on her side.
Speaking to Nick Ferrari, she said: "It's not being a good week, has it? Let's be honest.
"The way the algorithm works is sort of perverse because it seems to have favoured children from higher-performing schools - that is to say independent schools - and penalised bright children in state schools, which is the opposite of what anybody wanted it to do.
"The messaging has been very confused and chaotic.
"I personally think we should cut the kids some slack. They've had a terrible year.
"With hindsight, had we known how little the virus affects children and how little they transmit it, I suspect the government would probably have tried to keep years 10 and 13 open and have them sit the exams as normal.
"If I had been the Education Secretary, I would have probably placed more trust in the judgement of teachers.
"By and large, teachers know what their children are capable of and most of them don't exaggerate the claims."
Watch her interview at the top of the page.
