A-level results: Ofqual boss resigns in wake of exams chaos

The head of England's exams regulator Ofqual has resigned in the wake of this summer’s A-level and GCSE results fiasco, the organisation has announced.

Sally Collier’s departure came as prime minister Boris Johnson admitted that the government “might have done some things differently” on school qualifications in a year when coronavirus prevented the usual exams from taking place.

And education secretary Gavin Williamson faced immediate calls for him to follow Ms Collier's example and fall on his sword. Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman Layla Moran said Mr Williamson "is simply not the person to deliver a safe return to schools and must resign”.

School leaders' union ASCL wrote to the education secretary calling on him to commission an immediate independent inquiry into what went wrong.

The Ofqual chief regulator had been due to face a grilling from MPs on the House of Commons Education Committee next Wednesday over the chaos surrounding exam results, which initially saw an algorithm downgrade nearly 40 per cent of A-level pupils' predicted grades. Amid fury among parents and pupils, education secretary Gavin Williamson was forced into a U-turn which resulted in a massive increase in passes and inflated results compared to previous years.

In a statement, Ofqual said that Ms Collier had decided that "the next stage of the awarding process would be better overseen by new leadership" and was stepping down after four years in post.

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