Government reveals ‘triple lock’ plan: how does it work?

The government has announced its ‘triple lock’ plan, which enables students to either accept the grade they receive, create an appeal to get a valid mock result, or sit their exams in autumn.

The cancellation of this year’s exams due to the coronavirus pandemic has caused warranted concerns about the impact on A-level and GCSE results. Despite teachers’ leaders criticising the plan as “panicked and chaotic”, ministers have promised students that their final grades will be no lower than their mock exam results. With A-level results released yesterday (Thursday 13 August), Education Secretary Gavin Williamson explained that students can appeal their results if the grades they receive are lower than their mock results. “This triple lock system will help provide reassurance to students and ensure they are able to progress with the next stage of their lives”, he added.

Director of admissions at The University of Law Peter Edge said: "My chief concern with the system is that it is hard to look past it being a reactionary measure based on observing the challenges that Scotland faced last week. We know that mocks are not a standardised thing nor are they available for or used by all courses, schools and colleges.

"As universities, we have been asked to be as flexible as we can be this year to take into consideration students having calculated grades and to see the approach changed at the eleventh hour I think is likely to further confuse a group of young people who already have experienced an incredibly stressful end to their secondary education.

"My advice to students considering The University of Law this year is to get in touch with us and make sure to mention that you are considering appealing your calculated grades via your school or college; whether that be because your grades were moderated downwards by the Awarding Body or because your mock performance exceeded the results you were given. We’ll do all that we can to support you."

A government support package has also been created to ensure schools, colleges and further education providers can run autumn exams.

Visit the government website for more information on the triple lock system.