Few among us have not seen our lives disrupted by the virus crisis, with children and teenagers having to grapple with school closures, remote learning and the cancellation of major exams. In light of the news that yet another set of GCSE and A-levels will not go ahead in England this summer, to be replaced by teacher assessments, one of the Queen’s grandchildren, Lady Louise Windsor, will not be sitting her AS levels.
Lady Louise is the elder child of Prince Edward and the Countess of Wessex, who also have a son, 13-year-old James, Viscount Severn. The 17-year-old royal would have been taking her AS exams this summer (the first of two years of A-level studies). Hello! reports that Lady Louise attends a school in Ascot near Bagshot Park, her family’s royal residence on Bagshot Heath. She began her A-level studies in September 2020, only to have seen her in-person schooling put on hold amid the new England lockdown.
Back in September, during a family outing to volunteer as part of the Marine Conservation Society’s Great British Beach Clean, Lady Louise revealed that she has chosen English, History, Politics and Drama as her A-level subjects. The teenager received her GCSE results last summer, although it is not known what grades she was awarded.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said in a statement to Parliament on Wednesday: ‘I can confirm that GCSEs and A and AS-Level exams will not go ahead this summer. This year we are going to put our trust in teachers rather than algorithms.’ His comments come after last year’s awarded A-level grades, originally decided by an algorithm in light of cancelled exams, sparked uproar when nearly 40 per cent were lower than teachers’ assessments. This downgrading hit state schools more drastically than private ones.
Like so many of us across the country, Prince Edward and his family had a much quieter Christmas in 2020 than in typical years. With the Queen and Prince Philip spending the festive period at Windsor Castle, Edward, the Countess and their two children were the only royals to go to church at Sandringham on Christmas Day.
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