The MP for Romford has waded into the ongoing results scandal at a Havering college.

Andrew Rosindell today - August 13 - wrote to Gerry McDonald, the group principal and chief executive of New City College (NCC) which owns the Havering Sixth Form college in Hornchurch.

The scandal first broke on Tuesday - August 10 - when several students alleged that NCC had unfairly changed their results, in many cases at the cost of university places.

A protest which took place yesterday - August 12 - saw several of those affected approach the Recorder to tell their story.

Brimming with a real sense of injustice, these students share the feeling that they have been robbed of their future.

Student Julia Abazari was predicted AAA, but missed out on her place at London School of Economics (LSE) to study Law.

She asked: “If I don’t get into a good university, what am I going to do for the rest of my life?"

Others - including Matthew Cornish and Chantelle Maromo - maligned the grading process as "not fair" and "a joke".

When approached, Mr McDonald stressed the college had followed a "a robust, evidence-based grading and moderation process, focused on data integrity."

He said: "If students have concerns about their grades, it is important that they follow our appeals process so that we can try to resolve these concerns as quickly as possible."

Yet with this scandal far from over, Romford's representative has had his say on the injustice.

"You will know better than most the devastating impact the pandemic and school closures have had on students, and the disruption it has caused to their education", wrote Mr Rosindell.

He went on to question the process whereby the final awards were reportedly made by NCC's senior management without teacher consultation, adding that he cannot see how grading decisions can be made "accurately" in this way.

Mr Rosindell believes this process, and any associated decisions, must be reconsidered "as a matter of urgency" - should it be correct that students' grades were reduced without consultation.

NCC has been contacted for an updated position on this ongoing matter.