School to appeal after all ITC pupils are given a '˜u' grade at GCSE

A senior school is to appeal to an exam board after every single one of its ICT students was handed a '˜U' in their GCSEs.
GCSE results.GCSE results.
GCSE results.

Dozens of pupils at Harlington Upper School are believed to have received a fail grade as examiners felt they’d been given too much help with their coursework.

According to a letter sent out to parents, the exam board, OCR, decided it cannot accept the work submitted following a moderation process.

A mum of one of the students affected, who asked not to be named, said: “I came with my daughter to pick up her exam results and the school handed out this letter to all parents.

“It said every single student had failed ICT because something wasn’t right with their coursework.

“I’m absolutely furious, it’s an important grade. All of that hard work gone to waste.

“I think people need to know what is going on.”

Headteacher Shawn Fell said they were treating the results as “a very serious matter”, and said they would be appealing the decision.

In the letter, he wrote said:”Overall, we are very pleased with our exam results this year and I have attached a press release for our exam results.

“We are still looking into the ICT Cambridge National Certificate results, which has arisen from the usual moderation process.

“I have explained this to students and parents.”

“I am treating this as a very serious matter and am aware it is not of the candidates’ doing.

“OCR has an appeals process and I am currently carrying out an investigation to establish if it is possible for this decision to be reviewed.

“In the meantime, I recognise that you may be relying on this qualification to support your progression into Sixth Form or college.

“Please be assured that we will take this decision into account for entry into our Sixth Form.

“I wish to apologise for the ICT Cambridge National Certificate results not being available today.”

Overall, 75 per cent of students gained five or more GCSEs at Grade C.

A total of 64 per cent of students gained this benchmark including English and mathematics.

High grades were common with 24 students gaining eight or more A*-A grades.

Mr Fell added: “The GCSE results at Harlington are overall very good again this year.

“Our students have gained superb results and are now ready for the next stage of their education.

Students should be congratulated on their achievements, following all their hard work.

Harlington Upper School is a successful 13-19 school and Academy with 1400 students, including over 400 in the sixth form.

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