14 August 2020
“It’s clear that many young people lack confidence in the system that awarded them their grades yesterday, and that is not acceptable.
“There really isn’t an easy answer to mend the situation we’re in. Some ‘quick fixes’ could replace what currently feels unfair with further unfairness. However, whatever happens next must give every young person a fair and equal opportunity to reach their full potential. We cannot allow the pandemic to crush young people’s ambitions and attitude towards education.
“To ensure individuals, whether at school, college or educated elsewhere, have their individual circumstances reviewed, learners who feel they have received unfair results need to have full confidence that the appeals process will look at their cases individually, and that they will come out of it with a grade that accurately reflects their individual profile and expectations. It needs to be easy to access and straightforward and the grounds of appeal cannot be limited to narrow criteria. We need to know what the revised appeals system looks like, with urgency.
“And to young people in Wales: please don’t lose faith or hope in our education system. I’ll do all I can to make sure any changes will be fair for you all.”