Education Minister and First Minister owe young people a full and proper apology

Plaid Cymru Shadow Education Minister Sian Gwenllian MS has urged Kirsty Williams and Mark Drakeford to issue apologies over the A-Level debacle that caused stress and confusion for Welsh pupils

A “full and proper” apology to young people is needed from both the Education Minister and the First Minister, Plaid Cymru Shadow Education Minister Sian Gwenllian MS has said.

Although the Welsh Government conceded yesterday in a dramatic U-turn that teacher assessed grades were the fairest way to assess Welsh A-Level pupils, significant consequences have already been felt by pupils’ wellbeing and future prospects.

In response to this, Plaid Cymru Shadow Education Minister Sian Gwenllian MS said,

“Both the Education Minister and the First Minister owe a full and proper apology to the young people of Wales for the results debacle.

“Instead, they continue to defend a clearly flawed system before the interests of young people, admitting that they only made their U-turn because England was about to do the same.

“However, had England not changed their mind, the young people of Wales would still be suffering. If the system is as good as they say it is, why drop it because of what England did? If you believed in the system, surely you’d have continued to stand by it?

“They should have conceded early on that using centre assessed grades by teachers was the best option going forward, but they left it until the very last minute and this created unneeded anxiety and a lot of last minute scramble for university places.

“There are so many questions to be asked around this badly handled episode, and young people and teachers urgently deserve these answers.

“This is about young people and their futures, the significance of the matter cannot and should not be underplayed.”