A-level students unhappy with their grades should be encouraged to re-sit the last year of school instead of “limping on” to university with gaps in their knowledge, headteachers said on Wednesday.
It comes after A-level results surged to record levels on results day on Tuesday following the scrapping of exams and their replacement with teacher assessments.
Pupils were graded based only what they were taught during the pandemic, and not parts of the curriculum that were missed because schools were closed or students were off ill.
It has led to fears that even A* grade students will have some gaps in their knowledge.
Professor Alan Smithers, head of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at the University of Buckingham, said: “The least well prepared sixth formers of all time have received the highest ever grades.”
Students who were disappointed with their grades will have to appeal to their schools or enter a pressured university clearing system to find a place this year.
Instead, they should be encouraged to re-sit, according to Alun Ebenezer, head of Fulham Boys School.
He said: “If students have any uncertainty of not having the knowledge base they need to progress to degree level they should repeat the year. Better to get that sorted now than limp on and have to drop out or get overwhelmed.”
A spokesman for Universities UK said: “We understand the Covid-19 pandemic has been a confusing and uncertain time… and we are keen to ensure that the transition is as smooth as possible.”
Tuesday’s A-level results showed private schools scoring particularly highly, with 70 per cent of entries from their pupils scoring A or A*.
But pupils at Brampton Manor Academy, a state school in Newham, secured more Oxbridge places for its students than Eton College for the first time.
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Some 55 pupils got the grades needed and will go on to study at Oxford or Cambridge. A large proportion of pupils are eligible for free school meals or will be the first in their family to go to university.
