In an embarrassing U-turn the Governments of the UK have ripped up the systems they used to moderate exam results, and will now be awarding the grades to students that teachers believe they deserve.

In Scotland, 25% of students were delivered lower grades than their teachers predicted, and in England the number of grades adjusted down by an algorithm (a calculation used to solve a problem, and usually done by a computer) was closer to 40%. The Education Secretaries for Scotland, England, N Ireland and Wales have confirmed that all pupils that received a downgraded result will have these scrapped, and new results will be awarded based on teacher estimates. Pupils who received an increase in their grades will not lose their awards.

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Scottish Education Secretary John Swinney apologised to pupils who had their grades reduced by the moderation process used by the SQA. A system of teacher estimates and moderation was created when students had exams cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the results were disastrous for many students and the Government. 

This U-turn comes after thousands of young people took to the streets of the UK's cities, demanding changes to a system which appeared to penalise those from more disadvantaged areas and larger schools. Now, students are scrambling to try to secure places at University, and days of confusion.

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UK Education Secretary Gavin Williamson apologised for the "distress" caused.

Today, almost 300,000 teenagers in England and Wales, who have not been in school since March, received their A-level and B-Tech results. In England, 36% of entries had a lower grade than teachers predicted and 3% were down two grades, in results for exams cancelled by the pandemic. Whatever happens next, 2020 is a year students will not forget.