The A-Level and GCSE results fiasco shows the government urgently needs to restore the value of coursework

Editorial: Schools should be more than examination factories that put pressure on students to stake their futures on tests of memory

Change in focus would prepare students for university (Getty)

It is increasingly clear that Gavin Williamson’s U-turn over examination grades has not resolved the crisis caused by a summer without exams. He has merely passed the buck to others. Many students now able to go to their first choice university will have to defer for a year, putting the class of 2021 at an unfair disadvantage. More immediately, universities which were many students’ second choice now face severe financial problems due to lower numbers and income from tuition fees, according to Universities UK. The government should look favourably on calls for a bailout.

The education secretary was right to include GCSE as well as A-level results in the decision to rely on teachers’ assessments rather than the flawed algorithm developed by Ofqual, the exams regulator. But a similar downside will probably emerge after pupils receive their GCSE results today. The higher than expected grades will put many sixth form colleges in the same boat as the top universities. High-performing colleges, in a sector consistently undervalued and underfunded by the Conservatives since 2010, will almost certainly find their courses oversubscribed. The government should not leave them in the lurch either.