What the papers say – August 16

Calls for heads to roll over the ongoing A-level results “fiasco” leads the nation’s Sunday papers.

The Sunday Mirror says Labour and Lib Dem representatives have called for Education Secretary Gavin Williamson to resign amid the A-level exam “disaster” which has resulted in almost 40% of predicted grades being downgraded by exam regulator Ofqual’s “moderation” algorithm.

The Observer reports the Ofqual algorithm will also be used to award GCSEs, leading to concerns that even more results could be downgraded.

The Sunday Times says “angry” parents are “turning to the courts” in a bid to rectify their children’s downgraded results.

Meanwhile the Sunday Express carries an interview with Mr Williamson, who says he is determined to make sure students return to classrooms in September because the risks otherwise are “too high to ignore”.

Elsewhere, The Sunday Telegraph leads with Health Minister Matt Hancock’s decision to scrap Public Health England and replace it with a new body “specifically designed to protect the country against a pandemic”.

The Mail on Sunday reports Home Secretary Priti Patel has “sparked a diplomatic row” with Paris over her comments that migrants were crossing the Channel to escape “racist” France.

Britain faces a “homelessness crisis” as the Government’s protection on evictions expires, according to The Independent.

Sunday People reports the country will not recover from the pandemic-induced recession “until 2023”.

And the Daily Star says Eastenders favourite Ian Beale is being written out of the show.