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Gair Rhydd Interviews Cardiff Clearing Office
Gair Rhydd spoke to a clearing call agent, who has been working in the clearing office for Cardiff University for the past four years, and describes feeling “utterly helpless” for the students.
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sen Kupeli found that this year, the number of calls the clearing authorities office received was much greater in comparison to the previous years since students have “failed to achieve their grades”. “I remember in the morning thinking, this isn’t a usual clearing shift.... I hadn’t heard about this algorithm yet. I researched it, along with my colleagues, and found out more about it. We were all fuming. The whole experience was frustrating because we genuinely felt so bad for all the students, we were infuriated at the government and the whole situation, but we couldn’t do anything about it, and felt helpless. “I had students on the phone who couldn’t afford to appeal. Who were predicted As, who were from families with no history of higher education. These students were to be the first generation to get that higher education which is so readily welcome and available to those from higher socioeconomic backgrounds. This classist, elitist algorithm messed these kids up. “These students were stuck with grades that had been nonchalantly handed to them without a second thought as to the impact this will have on their future. My heart would genuinely break every time I had to reject such students. Honestly, the tone and mood in the clearing room was solemn over the first two/three
days. When the algorithm was retracted and students were awarded their centre assessed grades, the phone lines went mad “We were somewhat unprepared but all the callers worked extremely hard and got through all the calls. When I came in the next morning, the atmosphere had shifted to a lot more bright and hopeful - we were eager to hand out offers. The only problem was that most spaces on courses had been filled up, so we didn’t even have a lot of offers to give out. Whenever we did, we’d celebrate, it’d make our day almost as much as the students’.
“The students were stuck with grades that had been nonchalantly handed to them without a second thought as to the impact this will have... my heart would genuinely break every time I had to reject such students.”
Gair Rhydd asked students to summarize their results experience and the algorithm in three words. Credit: Tehreem Sultan
Impact on students coming to Cardiff University
G
air Rhydd spoke to Jemima Coleman, looking forward to joining Cardiff University this September. Coleman describes the situation as feeling quite confident, due to her close friend’s results which came before hers, and she had achieved straight A*’s in the similar subjects they both have worked on together for the past years. “We came out with nearly identical GCSE results and were on track to be getting very similar grades at A-Level, with As and A*s being predicted for us. But when it came to college, I went to Steyning Sixth Form College, and she went to St Philip Howard Catholic High School. Whilst this isn’t a private college, it is held in high esteem by the surrounding areas and is a much more upper class institution.” “When I received my results later in the afternoon, nothing went according to my expectations and was downgraded to ABBC from expecting straight A’s. I swore. I cried. I panicked. Not only had I lost my entry requirements, I had also missed my Academic Scholarship. Nonetheless, I was shaking and couldn’t see, but I managed to log onto UCAS Track and see that my place had still been confirmed at the University. ‘Overwhelmed’ is an understatement. I was so incredibly relieved.” “When the relief subsided, my
emotions quickly turned to anger. I submitted an appeal based on my higher mock grades. However, then came the centre assessed grades (CAG) announcement which were sadly too late for many. After such a long wait, people who had otherwise got their University place with their CAGs had by now found places through clearing. “For a lot of colleges, the TAGs were the same as the CAGs; the
teachers submitted a grade for a student and it was submitted by the college to the exam board, unaltered. However, my college interfered with these grades before they were even sent to the exam board. My maths teachers actually assigned me a grade A, but leadership at the school - staff that had never taught me nor interacted with me on an academic level - decided to take my grade and move it down.”
“I wasn’t going to give up here. I wanted the grades that the school had taken from me, and I wanted needed - the scholarship. I phoned OFQUAL, and I phoned Pearson, and I still have not heard back from the exam board. The deadline for my grade to be amended so I can be considered for the bursary is the 31st October. Time is running out.” “One of my friends lost her university place, and is forced to
repeat Year 13.” Feeling that a great injustice had been done, I also wrote a letter to my local MP, Andrew Griffith, and I have not heard anything back from him or his office either. I feel that due to coming from an underprivileged background, I already have to work harder to reach the level of my more privileged peers, and now I feel like I have been setback even further, and it’s not fair.”
Freshers: Despite the downgraded grades and the algorithm, students will be joining Cardiff University in September. Credit: Tehreem Sultan
