Students gather outside the Senate over the weekend to protest against the grading system
The students at A-level and GCSE will receive the degrees that their teachers predict for them, the Welsh Government has announced.
The U-turn followed criticism from students, opposition politicians and Welsh Labor backbenchers.
Education Minister Kirsty Williams said she made the decision to maintain confidence in the system.
An announcement is expected later in England, following a change to use predictive degrees for Northern Ireland GCSEs.
A total of 42% of the A-level grades predicted by teachers were reduced when Welsh results were published last week, after being processed by an algorithm.
The change also affects AS levels, skills challenge certifications and the Welsh Baccalaureate.
But students who have received higher grades than those suggested by teachers will keep them.
Ms Williams said that “given decisions elsewhere, the balance of honesty now lies in assigning center grades to students, despite the strengths of the system in Wales”.
Minister Lib Dem, who serves in the Labor Welsh government, promised an independent review of the event “after the cancellation of this year’s exams”.
Kirsty Williams, pictured right of center, said the balance of honesty lies in awarding degrees
Last week’s results were produced by an algorithm designed to ensure that grades were “as honest as possible” and consistent with previous years.
But it was criticized for producing unfair degrees for individual students.
The announcement follows calls to honor predominant degrees of Labor politicians in the Welsh parliament, such as Welsh Conservatives and Plaid Cymru.
Prime Minister Mark Drakeford is expected to meet with Welsh Labor backbenchers to hear their concerns later.
Plaid Cymru Education spokesman Sym Gwenllian said the announcement was “seriously overdue” and called for a “full investigation into this debacle”.
“The Welsh Government must apologize to students, teachers and schools for what they have done in recent weeks,” she said.
Suzy Davies, spokesperson for education for Welsh Conservatives, welcomes the Minister of Education’s review.
“It is reassuring that the Minister has listened to the Welsh Conservatives and other parties in the Welsh Parliament, but it is particularly pleasing that they have heard the voices of young people up and down the country,” she added.
The momentum building against the A-level rating mechanism made this climax unpredictable even before it was announced.
So why did it take ministers so long to get there?
Kirsty Williams and other cabinet colleagues had nailed their colors to the ‘robustness’ of the system in Wales – the implication was that it was more credible than other parts of Britain, because actual exam results (the AS levels) were taken into account here , unlike anywhere else.
But because the mailboxes of Senedd members filled with stories of individual injustices against students who will be voting in the Senedd elections next year for the first time, that position did not become sustainable – especially with GCSE -results that quickly dread.
