British Education Minister Gavin Williamson is currently under fire from the opposition, not because of bad high school grades, but because of too good results.

On Tuesday, the school leaving results were issued in the three parts of England, Wales and Northern Ireland and were much better than last year, where there was already a significant improvement over 2019.

This year almost 45 percent of all students achieved an A * or A, the best possible results.

In 2020 it was 38.5 percent and in the previous year around 25 percent.

Oliver Kühn

Editor in politics.

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The trend towards better grades continued on Thursday as the middle school graduation results were issued.

The fact that the final exams were canceled this year and last year because of the pandemic and instead the students were assessed by the teachers on the basis of their performance over the school year could have led to the increase in the number of very good degrees.

"Williamson is afraid"

The opposition's criticism of the education minister is sparked above all by the sharp difference between the results of private and state schools.

While the former have a rate of 70 percent of the best grades, around 40 percent of students in state schools have achieved these grades.

In 2019, the last year before the pandemic, the difference was 20 percent.

That is reason enough for Labor leader Keir Starmer to call for Gavin Williamson to step down. He accuses the government of contributing to these uneven results. "The hallmark of this government is that wherever there is inequality, it increases it," Starmer told The Guardian on Wednesday. Williamson should have been fired "a long time ago" by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Starmer said.

The Times reports that Johnson is actually considering this, citing an unnamed Conservative MP.

Williamson is afraid of being kicked out, he says.

The education minister "goes around telling everyone that he knows where the bodies are buried" and that the prime minister is too weak to fire him, the newspaper quoted the MP as saying.

What standards should be used for grading?

Williamson's position is quite precarious. During the pandemic, he was often criticized for not having a sensible strategy for schools. In addition, he came up with the idea of ​​having the final grades awarded by the teachers last year checked by an algorithm. However, after this led to poorer results, the method had to be withdrawn. He also recently made a public faux pas when he said he could still remember the joy he had when he got his high school diploma. However, he then had to admit that he cannot remember his specific grades.

The Times also provides a possible successor for Williamson. Boris Johnson is playing with the idea of ​​promoting State Secretary for Equality, Kemi Badenoch. In the past, she stood out above all for the fact that she - as a black woman - vigorously defended the government and the country against accusations of racism. Conservative MPs in the Guardian, however, point out that their name was probably brought into play by their opponents in order to be able to point out their weaknesses and thus prevent them as minister.

The discussion about the final grades will in any case go on and also occupy a possible next education minister. As the responsible government agency announced in January, the goal is to return to final exams next year. However, the question then arises as to which standards these should be assessed. A return to the numbers from before the pandemic seems unfair to many, especially since next year's high school graduates may still be competing for university places with those from this year. In addition, they will also have to struggle with the effects of the pandemic on their previous educational biographies. In 2020 and 2021, this could at least be cushioned somewhat with the help of the individual assessment by the teachers; this would no longer be possible with the tests.