Although exams and assessments have been cancelled, most students will still be able to progress to further study or employment as planned with results which carry the same value as any other year. We know teachers worked extremely hard to deliver this year’s arrangements and the majority of grades students receive will be the same as their centre’s judgements – reflecting the skills, professionalism and integrity of those involved.

Final grades this summer will be calculated using both centre assessment grades and a rank order of students provided by the centre. Centre judgements will then be moderated by exam boards, to make sure the standard is consistent between schools and colleges. It is wrong to conclude that centre judgements will be adjusted simply because they have gone through the moderation process. There will only be adjustments where they are needed to ensure fairness for students.

Centres with lower entries, overall or in particular subjects, will have more weight placed on their centre judgements because that is the more reliable source of evidence in these circumstances. We will publish full details of the moderation process, including details for low entries, next week.

Where centres have evidence of an error, or that the moderation process did not produce reliable results for their students, they may appeal.

Results for students will almost always be broadly in line with centres’ and teachers’ expectations, and the awarding process has been designed to allow leniency where this can be done without undermining fairness.

For more information about awarding this year, read our latest blog.

A man who raped a 15-year-old when he was 19 will be sentenced for longer following the intervention of the Solicitor General, Rt Hon Michael Ellis QC MP.

In early 2019, the offender invited the victim to his home in Manchester. When he tried to kiss the victim twice, she told him to stop and pushed him away. He then proceeded to lock her inside his bedroom, force himself upon the victim, and rape her.

The victim immediately went to the police station and reported the crime to the police.

On 18 June, the offender was originally sentenced at Manchester Crown Court to 20 months for rape.

Following the Solicitor General’s intervention under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme, the Court of Appeal today increased his sentence to 3 years’ custody.

Commenting on the increase, the Solicitor General said:

“This offender’s actions have brought significant distress and psychological harm to a vulnerable victim and her family. I am pleased that the judge has agreed to increase the offender’s sentence in order to take into account the harm that he inflicted through this attack.”

The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into the Birmingham Education Trust (1064365), over concerns about the management of the charity by its trustees.

The charity funds and operates a school in Birmingham, which includes the promotion of the teaching of Islam to Muslim girls.

The Commission opened a compliance case into the charity in March 2019, to examine its repeated failure to comply with its statutory duty to file its accounts and annual returns. The case then identified wider concerns, including that the charity was operating in breach of its governing document in having only two trustees who were husband and wife. This also raised concerns about potential unmanaged conflicts of interest.

The Commission issued the trustees with an action plan to address and rectify the concerns, but the trustees have failed to demonstrate progress. The case has therefore been escalated to a statutory inquiry, which opened on 21 July 2020. The new inquiry will further examine the concerns identified at the charity, including whether:

• the charity has been operating for exclusively charitable purposes for the public benefit in furtherance of their charitable objects
• the financial controls of the charity are adequate, and their funds have been properly expended and can be accounted for
• the trustees of the charity have complied with their legal duties in respect of their administration, governance and management of the charity
• the trustees’ compliance with legal obligations for the content, preparation and submission of the charity’s accounts and other information or returns is in line with the statutory requirements
• potential conflicts of interest and connected party transactions have been properly managed
• the trustees have complied with previously issued regulatory guidance.

The Commission may extend the scope of the inquiry if additional regulatory issues emerge.

It is the Commission’s policy, after it has concluded an inquiry, to publish a report detailing what issues the inquiry looked at, what actions were undertaken as part of the inquiry and what the outcomes were. Reports of previous inquiries are available on GOV.UK.

Ends.

Notes to editors:

1. The Charity Commission is the independent, non-ministerial government department that registers and regulates charities in England and Wales. Its purpose is to ensure charity can thrive and inspire trust so that people can improve lives and strengthen society.
2. The Commission does not have a role in the regulation of education provision. Ofsted and the Independent Schools Inspectorate are the responsible bodies for ensuring schools meet educational standards. Our role, as charity regulator, is to ensure that trustees of charities are complying with charity law requirements.