Raac exam uplift 'difficult', chief regulator says

St Leonard's Catholic School has experienced Raac issues

Offering to boost the exam results of pupils affected by the crumbling concrete crisis would not be fair on others, the head of England's exam regulator has said.

Some parents at St Leonard's Catholic School in Durham, where schooling has been disrupted by Raac, called for their children's marks to be uplifted.

Ofqual's Sir Ian Bauckham said it would be "difficult" to allow results to be changed for affected students and not offer similar adjustments for other issues such as teacher shortages.

Nicola Cook, whose son is awaiting his A Level results, said Sir Ian's comments were "out of touch with reality".

A report by Durham University academics has also called for a boost of 10% for some of those affected.

'Unmitigated disruption'

When it came to boosting the exam results of some pupils, Sir Ian said it would be very difficult to know "how you would draw a line and maintain fairness".

He said many schools had dealt with issues with crumbling concrete "quite quickly".

"I would be surprised if there was an impact that was significant enough to impact results as a whole," he said.

But Ms Cook said Sir Ian had "no comprehension" of what pupils at St Leonard's had faced over the past year.

"Our school lost 80% of its buildings with temporary teaching spaces only delivered at Easter," she said.

"How then is it fair that our children are being benchmarked against those who haven't faced this type of unmitigated disruption?"

Sir Ian, Ofqual's chief regulator, said he was optimistic universities would be "as flexible as they're able to be" when deciding whether to accept a pupil, if Raac disruption had been set out on their UCAS form.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson previously said the Department for Education, Ofqual, UCAS and the Office for Students had worked to ensure higher education providers "are aware of the circumstances that have been faced by students" who attended schools with Raac.

"They have asked that higher education providers take the impact of disruption into account when considering admissions," she added.

A DfE spokesperson said staff knew Raac had been "disruptive" and the qualifications body had published further guidance for schools as to what "special consideration" may apply.