A HEADTEACHER has warned that students in Wales risk being "short-changed" by an A-level system that is "not fit for purpose".

Neil Foden, who is headteacher of Ysgol Friars in Bangor, said there was growing concern among fellow head teachers at the number of estimated A-level grades downgraded by the moderation system overseen by regulator Qualification Wales and exam board WJEC.

He spoke out after Welsh education minister Kirsty Williams announced on Wednesday that final grades would not be lower than pupils' earlier AS results.

This year's exams were cancelled across the UK because of the coronavirus lockdown and there are fears the replacement grading system will create a postcode lottery.

The Joint Council for Qualifications said the provisional A-level and AS results in Wales were broadly similar.

Around 98.6% of students achieved A* to E and there was a small increase at A*, with 10.8% of candidates collecting these grades.

A record 29.9% of students recorded an A or A* grades, which was an increase of 2.9% from last year. The figure, though, is less than the 40.4% estimated after the initial teacher assessments.

The regulator said the grades submitted by schools and colleges were "optimistic and, without standardisation, would have produced atypically high outcomes".

"This would have been contrary to the aim of achieving broadly similar national outcomes to reduce the risk of unfairness to learners over time and maintain public confidence," a spokesman said.

Mr Foden said he had spoken to several heads who were unhappy with the A-level grades their students were awarded.

"There is real concern in schools about the number of learners whose results have been downgraded from the teacher estimates," he said.

"This is already the generation whose wellbeing and, in some cases, mental health has been affected by lockdown and concerns about Covid-19, and a number feel that in some way their results would not be as valid because they hadn't sat a formal exam.

"Now they are the generation who could be short-changed by a statistical model that is clearly not fit for purpose.

"The mathematical model used by Qualifications Wales places too much reliance on national data and appears to over-emphasise performance in AS-level examinations in 2019."

Mr Foden, who is also a member of the national executive of the National Education Union, said schools across Wales were reporting candidates being awarded results two or three grades below their estimated grade.

He also highlighted several examples of students of equal ability in a subject which were awarded the same grade by their teachers having at least two grade difference between them after standardisation by WJEC.

"Scotland, in particular, took early steps to avoid learners being disadvantaged," Mr Foden added.

"The appeal process in Wales could take eight weeks. In the meantime, our university candidates are expected to go cap in hand to universities to ask them to be 'flexible' while appeals are resolved."

His claims were supported by local authority education portfolio holders in North Wales, who described a lack of transparency in the standardisation process as "very concerning".

"The matter has been further compounded following the significant U-turns seen in both Scotland and England," they said.