10 August 2021
Sally Holland, the Children’s Commissioner for Wales said:
“I think the way young people have dealt with the past 18 months has been remarkable, and they should be extremely proud of everything they’ve achieved this year.
“As a society we too need to be proud of our young people and how they’ve responded to these difficult two years. We need to make sure all young people and their teachers feel confident that we value the hard work that these qualifications represent.
“I’d like to pay tribute, too, to the hard work and commitment of teachers and school and college leaders for all that they did to make sure their students were able to achieve their qualifications this year.
“A negative focus on grade inflation risks dismissing the huge learning curve our young people have been on and the skills and resilience they’ve developed in this period, while ignoring the inbuilt inequalities of much of the pre-pandemic exam system.
“I hope we can build on everything we’ve learned over the last year to develop an exam system that does more to encourage continued learning and development, and one in which every young person is able to progress and have their achievements valued.”