SOME Pembrokeshire headteachers are among those in Wales questioning unusually low GCSE English grades following a change to exams.

Welsh Government Education Minister, Huw Lewis, has been forced to review the grades after headteachers questioned their accuracy.

The exam had undergone changes following a row over GCSE English results in 2012 which led to thousands of papers being regraded.

Two Pembrokeshire Headteachers told the Western Telegraph that they had concerns about the way a particular question was marked.

Tasker Milward headteacher, Maggie Haynes, said: “We think the results are much lower than expected.

"Specifically, question 3 on the higher tier paper was marked ridiculously. The national mean scores for questions 1,2 and 4 were around the 50% mark, yet for question 3 it was just 28%. We saw a huge drop on question 3 on 94% of our papers.

"The WJEC (examination board) and the Welsh Government must act, as a matter of urgency, to ensure the young people of Wales are not sacrificed on the altar of political expediency.”

Frank Ciccotti, headteacher of Pembroke School, added: “It has had some effect on our grades, which are a little lower (than expected). On question 3 we were unhappy about the structure, which was different to similar question types in the past, and was vague.”

The WJEC responded by stating that they had adhered to a request made by the Welsh Government in 2012, to strengthen the English Language GCSE.

They said they had provided a qualification that met the revised subject criteria which had resulted in a number of changes to the content and the assessment of GCSE English.

The Welsh Government pledged to work with the WJEC and schools, over the next few weeks, to establish the issues that may have had an adverse affect on results.