Welsh GCSE re-grade 'wrong' - Nick Clegg (From South Wales Argus)
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Welsh GCSE re-grade 'wrong' - Nick Clegg
1:46pm Monday 24th September 2012 in News
Welsh GCSE re-grade 'wrong' - Nick Clegg
A REVIEW of Welsh student's GCSE English grades was wrong, the deputy prime minister has said.
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg told reporters said the Welsh Government appeared to be shifting goalposts for children in Wales.
He said it wasn't for politicians to interfere and change the system unilaterally.
"I know what they say but I don't think it's right for politicians to be interfering in an independent exam system," he said.
More than 2,300 of the 34,000 pupils in Wales who took English with the WJEC exam board received better results after their papers were regraded.
A spokesman for the Welsh Government said that, unlike in England, Welsh ministers regulate qualifications.
"The decision to carry out the regrade in Wales led to the swift resolution of an injustice served to well over 2000 Welsh candidates," he said.
"The decision to direct the WJEC to carry out this work was about fairness and ensuring that Welsh students got the grades they deserved for the work they put into their examination."
Comments(9)
iandfox
says...
3:12pm Mon 24 Sep 12
Davi
says...
4:12pm Mon 24 Sep 12
On the inside
says...
4:53pm Mon 24 Sep 12
PontyPeter
says...
7:43pm Mon 24 Sep 12
Howie'
says...
8:45pm Mon 24 Sep 12
PontyPeter wrote:Do you think Clegg was right when he said this?:
Interesting that the 3 posters above can only manage to attack the person/party, and not the message. They give no good reason WHY the papers should have been remarked, other than it appeals to their petty politics.
''I know what they say but I don't think it's right for politicians to be interfering in an independent exam system," he said.
Whilst naive Cleggy is lauding the Independent Exam system Michael Gove the Education Secretary over at the Education Department was interfering up to his eyeballs to move the goalposts for the GCSE exams without warning which disadvantaged kids across the board. Clegg knows this but instead of standing up for the kids who had their dreams wrecked he decides to attack Wales for not playing along with Gove's dirty tricks. No doubt come election time when Clegg takes off his Tory clothes and puts on his LD ones he will apologise (yet again) to the parents for not speaking out at the time. Every time I see Clegg on TV and his lips are moving I think he must be lying.
Limestonecowboy
says...
8:46pm Mon 24 Sep 12
b3talover
says...
10:36pm Mon 24 Sep 12
Mervyn James
says...
11:49am Tue 25 Sep 12
PontyPeter says...
2:39pm Mon 24 Sep 12
The Welsh Education Minister was wrong.
We now have the ridiculous situation where 2 students can have sat the same exam, got the same mark, but obtained different grades.
We have a situation where Welsh student have been treated more favourably than English. This sounds good for the Welsh students until one realises that this undermines and cheapens their qualifications in the eyes of the rest of the world.