Simon Case said in August 2020 that 'a lot of people will be losing their minds' over exam failures.
Simon Case said in August 2020 that 'a lot of people will be losing their minds' over exam failures.
The head of the civil service at the time said the chaotic U-turn on Covid GCSE and A-level results was “the most appalling government I have ever seen” and “a lot of people should be losing their minds”.
Simon Case, the government's most senior civil servant since September 2020, appeared at the coronavirus inquiry today.
In a message from Case in August 2020, Hugo Keith, the lead lawyer for the Corona inquiry, described the U-turn on exam results as “the most terrible rule I have ever seen” and that “a lot of people should be losing their minds”. He said he did. “.
After exams were cancelled, schools were asked to provide center assessment grades and the ranking of students within each year group. They were then standardized across trials using a computer algorithm.
However, as backlash grew when 40% of grades were downgraded to A grade, the government had no choice but to change direction to awarding grades determined by schools.
Case, who was Prime Minister Boris Johnson's permanent secretary at the time, said the investigation was “very disappointing because the same thing happened in Scotland just before that”.
He said: “Some of us have again asked the question, ‘Are we OK?’ I think it's two or three weeks before the Scottish exam results come out and we say again, 'Are we solving this problem?' Would it be okay?' “But the same thing happened in the UK and I was disappointed.”
Last year, Sir Gavin Williamson said in a witness statement that closing schools to most pupils in January 2021 was a “panic decision made without the best interests of children in mind”.
The inquest also heard claims Williamson was in a “no surrender mode” and opposed the introduction of face masks in schools because he “didn't want to give a penny” to the union.