A SENIOR councillor has blamed a fall in A-level results on Monmouthshire County Council’s (MCC) Cabinet.

Leader of the Labour group at MCC Councillor Dimitri Batrouni said provisional performance tables indicated Key Stage 5 results are now lower across the county compared to last year.

For grades between A* to C, Wales had a two per cent increase in marks, while marks across the county fell from between six to 10 per cent.

Cllr Batrouni said: “Monmouthshire has now dropped below the Welsh average for students attaining good A-level results.

“We were below the Welsh average in every category.

“In particular, there has been a staggering drop in pupils achieving A* to C grades.

“In this day and age, given the hyper-competitive environment out there for our young people, these results are simply not acceptable.”

Cllr Batrouni produced his figures to the full MCC council meeting last Thursday (24th September) where he submitted his concerns in the form of a motion.

He praised the hard work of teachers and students but accused the Conservative-led cabinet of letting down sections of Monmouthshire’s young people in education.

Councillor Batrouni called on the cabinet to explain what it intends to do to “remedy the situation”.

Councillor Liz Hacket-Pain, Cabinet member with responsibility for education, said: “I’d like to put on record my disappointment with the nature of this motion.

“As a council we’ve tried very hard to come together to put the interests of students and families first. I don’t think the motion reflects that.

“At the most recent internal monitoring board set up to inform political groups of the work involved to address the six recommendations of Estyn, we were presented with an initial analysis and outcomes of this summer’s results.

“It was pleasing to hear that Monmouthshire is first in Wales in Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4 and second in Wales in Foundation Phase and Key Stage 3.

“It is undeniable the system we have in place is stronger than it has ever been.

“It is highly hypocritical when Cllr Batrouni celebrates teachers and students then comments harshly on the outcome of their results.

“Cllr Batrouni is correct that the percentage of A-level grades have fallen and we would like better.

“However, deeper analysis from the internal monitoring board reveals the cohort entry was significantly smaller.

“There were 393 taking A-levels this year and last year there were 487.

“Our schools and young people have done extremely well. The results sometimes aren’t always what we want them to be but we don’t deserve a motion like this.”

Leader Peter Fox dubbed the motion a “cheap, cheap political shot.”

The motion was rejected.