Mary Kelly Foy asks for mitigation for St Leonards students

Durham City MP Mary Kelly Foy has stated Ofqual's lack of special consideration for students at St Leonard's in Durham is "devastating" in a new letter to the exam watchdog.

Classrooms at the school were unable to open in September last year after reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) meant many classrooms were deemed unsafe.

This is devastating for everyone at @stlcsdurham so I’ve taken one last punt in the hope someone will see sense.

Where is the empathy? Compassion? Understanding?

Months without temporary buildings and access to specialist equipment and Ofqual still talk about “fairness”? Come… pic.twitter.com/F2isNp8V1h

— Mary Kelly Foy MP (@marykfoy) August 12, 2024

This comes after Sir Ian Bauckham, chief regulator of Ofqual, said it would be ‘difficult’ to allow a special uplift for ‘RAAC’ schools and then not make adjustments for other factors like teacher shortages and ‘inadequate’ facilities.

He added that he would be ‘surprised’ if RAAC disruption faced by schools and colleges in England affected overall exam results this summer - as those seeking places at universities will find out if they have secured a place on Thursday (August 15).

However, Ms Foy believes it is "extremely unfair" to expect that universities will understand the scale of disruption caused by RAAC as she urges the watchdog to think again and apply for special consideration.

St Leonards in County Durham. (Image: Stuart Boulton)

Part of the letter reads: "It may perhaps be a difficult process for Ofqual and others to put such considerations in place, however I believe it is vital that this is done prior to results being released.

"The disruption faced by young people at St Leonard’s was not trivial and was not dealt with quickly, which you state the majority of cases were.

"The staff and pupils at St Leonard’s effectively lost access to most of their school buildings. Previously completed work and notes were not accessible and specialist classrooms were closed.

"Despite the efforts of the school leadership, the parents, and my work in Parliament, it was not until January that temporary classrooms were available for the young people to work in.

"During this time, they were working in halls, being transported to other sites across the North East, or even working in corridors.

"This often involved excessively large class numbers, with pupils working off clipboards."

Parents have also reacted in dismay at the news as they worry for their children who are just days away from receiving crucial exam results. 

Families at St Leonards campaigning to save the school. (Image: Contributor)

The parent of a year 11 pupil at St Leonards said: “I have been beyond disappointed by the response of the DFE, Ofqual, JCQ and exam boards.

“No special consideration has been secured for the students in terms of their exam grades to take into consideration this unique situation.”

One dad said: “This matter is about future life chances for my children and many like them across the country who are going to be collateral damage to a failed policy of not rebuilding schools when required.”

Lousie Goreham McGill said St Leonard’s students have not had a level playing field.

She said: “How come it’s unfair to our students that they missed out on so much education?”

Jill Robinson added: “They talk about how ‘every day matters’ in a child’s education, except, of course, when they have three months missing from their education that the school couldn’t provide due to emergency provisions.

“It’s a disgrace that no concessions have been given.”

Mary Kelly Foy.

Here is a transcription of the full letter sent by Mary Kelly Foy MP:

I am writing to you in relation to your recent comments, as reported this morning by the Northern Echo and others, that offering special consideration to the children of St Leonard’s Catholic School in my constituency would be ‘difficult’. While I am extremely grateful for the previous conversation we had around this issue, I am deeply concerned that we seem to be no closer to any resolution for the St Leonard’s families.

It may perhaps be a difficult process for Ofqual and others to put such considerations in place, however I believe it is vital that this is done prior to results being released. The disruption faced by young people at St Leonard’s was not trivial and was not dealt with quickly, which you state the majority of cases were.

The staff and pupils at St Leonard’s effectively lost access to most of their school buildings. Previously completed work and notes were not accessible and specialist classrooms were closed. Despite the efforts of the school leadership, the parents, and my work in Parliament, it was not until January that temporary classrooms were available for the young people to work in.

During this time, they were working in halls, being transported to other sites across the North East, or even working in corridors. This often involved excessively large class numbers, with pupils working off clipboards.

Despite you stating that the majority of cases were resolved quickly – which many were – the situation at St Leonard’s was severe and protracted. It may be as a cohort, RAAC does not statistically affect the outcome of exam results, but it is almost certain that in the case of St Leonard’s Catholic School that it will have a negative effect.

This position was made clear in the report by Professor Stephen Gorard and Nadia Siddiqui from Durham University’s Evidence Centre for Education, which clearly stated there was a case for potentially a 10% uplift in grades for St Leonard’s pupils.

I would also question the measures that have already been put in place for St Leonard’s pupils. The first being that examining bodies have offered extensions for coursework for up to 45 days. This is meaningless if you do not have access to the specialist equipment needed to complete coursework. This also eats into valuable time at the end of term where students should be preparing for exams but are instead racing to complete coursework requirements – if indeed they can complete them at all. In fact, in some cases, specialist classrooms were not available until the Easter break in 2024.

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Secondly, you mention that you are ‘optimistic’ that universities will be flexible when it comes to offering university places to those pupils affected by RAAC. Sadly, the anecdotal evidence I have received from parents is that, simply, universities have no idea of the scale of the disruption suffered by St Leonard’s pupils. It is extremely unfair to expect these young people seeking a place at university to outline how disruptive this has been, nor should they be put in the position of special pleading for something beyond their control.

Within your comments, you speak about the need for fairness in assessing grades. I question the fairness in allowing these pupils to be graded on the same basis of young people who were thankfully able to attend school without this disruption. This is not a case of poor or inadequate facilities – it is assessing the abilities of young people who in many cases had access to no facilities for significant parts of the academic year.

The inaction of the previous Government has shown that it was not concerned with risking the future opportunities of St Leonard’s pupils, and I urge you to not only revisit the report by Durham University to urgently apply special consideration to the results of St Leonard’s pupils, but to work with the Department for Education and others to ensure that no pupils are ever in this position in the future.