Principal disappointed teachers’ grades not upheld

MANY pupils in Strabane will not have received the A Level grades they had expected this morning, and the growing discrepancies which are emerging as they day goes on have angered the principal of Holy Cross College, Clare Bradley. 

 

Mrs Bradley was speaking as a steady stream of pupils arrived at her school to collect their grades this morning. And while some of the pupils were content with the results they received, teaching staff are not. 

 

The Holy Cross principal explained there is great disappointment among staff as the teachers’ predicted grades have not been upheld by the NI examinations body, CCEA. 

 

Mrs Bradley said, “I am extremely disappointed at the grades that have been awarded to our pupils, there is a big discrepancy with the grades teachers submitted for the students and those they have been awarded. 

 

“It calls in to question the professional integrity of the teachers in our school as their grades have not been upheld. 

 

“Our teachers went through a very rigorous process through April, May and June to access each individual student and make sure their grades were correct, and now CCEA have simply applied the statistical model over the teacher’s assessment. It’s immoral,” she continued. 

 

“In our school each student is a person but in this case they have simply been treated as a number in a statistical model. Teachers feel very undermined by the results awarded today.” 

 

On a more positive note Mrs Bradley explained that many pupils at Holy Cross are still celebrating as they have received the grades they need to take the next step to university or their chosen career path.

 

However for some, results day will not be such a pleasant experience, and the Holy Cross principal assured any student who is disappointed with their results that staff are available to help them appeal their results and offer any guidance they need about going forward.