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24/09/2012
Nick Clegg Critical Of Welsh Government Over GCSE Re-grading
The decision by the Welsh education minister's to order a re-grading of some GCSE English papers in Wales has been criticised by deputy prime minister Nick Clegg
Speaking to BBC Wales, Mr Clegg said that Leighton Andrews appeared to be "shifting goalposts" for children in Wales.
A cross-border government row blew up with re-grading ordered just in Wales but the Welsh government said it was "properly" fulfilling its regulatory responsibilities.
Mr Andrews said hundreds of pupils in Wales were victims of an "injustice".
More than 2,300 of the 34,000 pupils in Wales who took English with the WJEC exam board (the former Welsh Joint Education Committee) received better results last week after their papers were looked at again.
However, papers of 84,000 students in England who took the same exam have not been regraded after the exam regulator there, Ofqual, decided not to step in.
Mr Clegg told BBC Wales parliamentary correspondent David Cornock: "I don't agree with what the Welsh government is doing, they appear to be shifting goalposts for children in Wales.
"I know what they say but I don't think it's right for politicians to be interfering in an independent exam system.
"My heart goes out to the parents and the children, particularly those who have taken English GCSEs where they feel there has been a change in the way they have been assessed, but I strongly feel that it isn't for politicians to start interfering and say we're going to change the system unilaterally."
(H)
Speaking to BBC Wales, Mr Clegg said that Leighton Andrews appeared to be "shifting goalposts" for children in Wales.
A cross-border government row blew up with re-grading ordered just in Wales but the Welsh government said it was "properly" fulfilling its regulatory responsibilities.
Mr Andrews said hundreds of pupils in Wales were victims of an "injustice".
More than 2,300 of the 34,000 pupils in Wales who took English with the WJEC exam board (the former Welsh Joint Education Committee) received better results last week after their papers were looked at again.
However, papers of 84,000 students in England who took the same exam have not been regraded after the exam regulator there, Ofqual, decided not to step in.
Mr Clegg told BBC Wales parliamentary correspondent David Cornock: "I don't agree with what the Welsh government is doing, they appear to be shifting goalposts for children in Wales.
"I know what they say but I don't think it's right for politicians to be interfering in an independent exam system.
"My heart goes out to the parents and the children, particularly those who have taken English GCSEs where they feel there has been a change in the way they have been assessed, but I strongly feel that it isn't for politicians to start interfering and say we're going to change the system unilaterally."
(H)
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