CALLS have been made to postpone GCSE results day in Wales.

The Children’s Commissioner for Wales has called for GCSE results – due to be announced on Thursday – to be pushed back until there is ‘public confidence’ in the process.

Sally Holland said the scenes on A-level results day were “heart-breaking” as students saw their “dreams shattered”.

The same controversial algorithm that was used to determine last Thursday's A-level results is being used to dish out GCSE grades this week, sparking fears that millions of pupils could see their marks downgraded, after the coronavirus outbreak cancelled exams.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast this morning, the Children’s Commissioner for Wales said that GCSE results should be pushed back until the Welsh Government can be sure that the process is fair.

She said: “Results should not be published until there is public confidence.

“I hope that happens before Thursday, but if not then I think they should be pushed back until that can happen.”

Prof Holland also called for universities to honour offers given to students who received their A-level results last week, based on personal statements, assessments, references, and interviews prior to the pandemic.

"Many students have had little chance to progress their education since those offers were made," she said.

"It is unfair to now reject individuals whose results have been arrived at by a system that is likely to have produced individual anomalies.

“We need to give these young people a break and not worry about a blip on the chart.

“It is heart-breaking seeing these young people with their dreams shattered.

“They have not had the chance to prove themselves and it is not fair.

“I have been hearing some headteachers who are baffled by how these grades have been reduced.”

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A petition calling for students to receive teacher predicted exam grades has been signed by more than 22,000 people.

The Welsh Parliament is on its summer break, but the Children, Young People and Education Committee has been recalled and will meet tomorrow.

The Welsh Government said more than 4,000 students would benefit from the guarantee that no final grade would be lower than an AS grade.

"This is around 15 per cent of all A-level students and makes a significant difference to the overall impact of variations between final grades and centre assessed grades," said a spokesperson.

"Even before the AS floor, 94 per cent of the grades are the same as or within one grade of the centre assessed grades."