THE “CHAOS and incompetence” that has epitomised the Tories’ handling of the Covid-19 crisis in education should not be allowed to undermine young people’s life chances, Sir Keir Starmer said today.

As students prepare to receive A-level and GCSE grades this week, the Labour leader set out three tests that, he said, ministers must meet by August 31, the cut-off date set by many universities for students to fulfil entry terms.

A second year of results chaos is “not an option,” Sir Keir insisted, recalling last summer’s fiasco, in which the use of computer-generated grades led thousands of students from poorer areas being penalised, and Education Secretary Gavin Williamson’s misplaced confidence that he would deliver “a full exam series” this year.

Ministers should work with further-education institutions to provide a “next-step guarantee” for pupils, “to ensure that all young people can move on to the next stage of their lives,” he said.

Sir Keir called on universities to give additional consideration to state school students to compensate for them lacking the advantages of their counterparts at private schools, which are already lobbying for their students.

Ministers must also ensure that a functioning appeals system is in place so that no young person misses out on a place at university or college place or on an apprenticeship or work opportunity, he said.

Teachers who have worked an average of 12 extra hours a week to deliver the grading process should also be told urgently what support will be offered to help them guide and advise pupils once the grades are announced.

Sir Keir said: “It frustrates me immensely that this week’s big moment in so many young people’s lives is being risked by the chaos and incompetence at the top of this government.

“No young person should lose out because of Conservative chaos, which is why we are calling on the Prime Minister to fix this mess his Education Secretary has created and deliver on our three tests so all young people can move onto the next stage of their lives.”

The Department for Education said that a “rigorous system to ensure grades are fair” had been put in place and that higher education admissions service Ucas had predicted that more than 80 per cent of students would go to their first choice of university.

In Scotland, Labour warned that this year’s grading was “the most unequal assessment process” since devolution, and that the poorest young people were likely to be the worst affected.  

Scottish Labour education spokesman Michael Marra said: “We know that there are many young Scots whose last two years of school have been a huge disappointment.

“Their prospects have been blighted, yet there is no sign of a plan from this government to put things right for those who have lost out.”