• I HOPE this finds you well during these troubled times. I am a 19-year-old A-level retake student at Hampstead school.

As you know, due to the coronavirus outbreak all summer exams have been cancelled and all A-level students, including private candidates (that is those not currently on the school roll), have been promised a grade this summer, allowing them to continue to their next step into university.

Private candidates can be ranked and therefore graded if an existing relationship is present between the student and the school, therefore having enough sufficient evidence to allow the process to be carried out.

Many private candidates at Hampstead school are originally internal on-call students having attended the school since Year 7. Therefore I personally have an existing relationship of over seven years at the school.

If other institutions, with much shorter relationships, are able to rank their students, why is Hampstead unable to do so?

On May 20 private candidates at the school received a letter informing them that they have been pulled from all examination entries and, therefore, will not be receiving a grade this summer, jeopardising any student with a university offer.

When asked the reasons as to why, students received vague, unfulfilling, answers stating its impossible to rank on-call students and external candidates.

However, this does not seem to be the issue at other institutions who have promised to support private candidates.

Yes, other schools have also chosen to do the same and ignore their private candidates; but they have had over a month’s notice, giving them enough time to switch to private examination centres if possible.

But Hampstead school has just informed their students meaning deadlines for entries have passed, giving students less than 10 days to sort out any real solution with the grade deadline being May 29.

Students were told to email their universities and hope they are flexible enough to offer places under discretion. Many students have worked extremely hard to get into university.

I spent weeks on my personal statement perfecting it; I spent hundreds on one-to-one tuition to ensure I can get the grades. I then received all five offers. And for it to all be taken away like this is a complete injustice.

Any help or advice?

SHAD OMAR
Address supplied