A-level students in Wales will get the grades awarded by their teachers, it has been announced in a U-turn this afternoon (Monday).

More than 40 per cent of grades, received by pupils on Thursday, had been downgraded by exams watchdog, Qualifications Wales, sparking an outcry.

But in a U-turn today, the Welsh Government has announced that A level, AS, GCSE, Skills Challenge Certificate and Welsh Baccalaureate grades in Wales will now be awarded on the basis of Centre Assessment Grades.

Education minister Kirsty Williams said: “Working with Qualifications Wales and WJEC we have sought an approach which provides fairness and balances out differences in the standards applied to judgments in schools.

“Given decisions elsewhere, the balance of fairness now lies with awarding Centre Assessment grades to students, despite the strengths of the system in Wales.

“I am taking this decision now ahead of results being released this week, so that there is time for the necessary work to take place.

“For grades issued last week, I have decided that all awards in Wales, will also be made on the basis of teacher assessment.

“For those young people, for whom our system produced higher grades than those predicted by teachers, the higher grades will stand.

“Maintaining standards is not new for 2020, it is a feature of awarding qualifications every year in Wales, and across the UK.

“However, it is clear that maintaining confidence in our qualifications whilst being fair to students requires this difficult decision.

“These have been exceptional circumstances, and in due course I will be making a further statement on an independent review of events following the cancellation of this year’s exams.

“Other awarding bodies across the UK are involved in determining the approach to vocational qualifications. This continues to be the case but it is important that I give assurance to GCSE, AS and A-level student at the earliest opportunity.”Qualifications Wales said: "Today the Minister for Education has announced that following changes in other jurisdictions, learners in Wales will be awarded their centre assessment grades. In response, we have instructed WJEC to issue learners with their centre assessment grades for GCSEs, AS and A levels and the Welsh Baccalaureate Skills Challenge Certificate qualifications."We know that this is an extraordinarily difficult and upsetting time for learners, parents and their teachers, and there are many questions that we do not currently have answers to. We are working through the details and impact of this announcement and will provide updates as soon as we possibly can."We can confirm that any learner who has been issued with an AS, A level or Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate Skills Challenge Certificate grade that is higher than their centre assessment grade will receive the higher grade. Additionally, the policy that we put in place for private candidates remains in place. We are working to update the appeals process and will publish further details shortly."