A CO Derry principal has described yesterday as the “most difficult results day of my career”.
Peter Friel is principal of St Pius X College in Magherafelt.
In his 23-year teaching career, he says he has never known a results day as difficult as yesterday as pupils got results for exams they couldn’t sit because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“One of the things we found most difficult is the inconsistency,” said Mr Friel.
“How do we explain some of the things that came to pass?”
Standardisation, making sure all grades across the UK jurisdictions carry the same weight, has been the “big buzzword” since it was announced exams would not take place, he said.
“That didn’t go very well. We have teacher predicted grades as a rule of thumb in Scotland.
“In England they are using mock results to support appeals, in Wales they are guaranteeing a minimum of the AS grade and in Northern Ireland we are doing none of the above”.
He says that so far, he has appeals from 50 out of 86 pupils who received results and isn’t sure how he processes that while re-opening the school next week.
Emma is one of those students.
She says when she saw her results “tears just came”.
Her predicted grades were BBC – she got two Ds and a C.
Emma had planned on studying at Belfast Met.
Now she “wants to come back here and repeat”.
“I want to do my exams, actually sit them this time. I am really anxious and my anxiety is building up.
“I just don’t know what to do,” she says.
Tags: