What the papers say – February 25

The Government’s plan to avoid a repeat of last year’s exams fiasco in England is splashed across many of the front pages.

The Daily Telegraph reports summer exams will be voluntary, with The Times saying schools have been “told to work out their own exam grades”.

The Guardian reports teachers will be given “sweeping powers” as part of the latest move, which the paper says has prompted “fears of grade inflation”.

The Independent casts the Government’s latest move as a “bid to avoid fresh exams fiasco” after the difficulties last summer.

The “huge logistical challenge” of the new testing regime is blamed for “Britain’s back to school shambles” in the Daily Mirror, with one teachers’ union casting doubt on schools fully reopening on March 8.

Senior Conservative MPs are “pleading with Rishi Sunak to bin Budget tax rises – and trigger a high-speed Covid recovery”, according to the Daily Express.

A rise in pandemic rule-breaking has prompted a new Government campaign which will urge the public to “stay home”, the i reports, though Metro focuses on the outdoors as it says “festivals are back”.

The Daily Star says a member of the Government has stunned the whole of Britain by admitting “Soz, we made a mistake” over the PPE contract “shambles”.

And the Financial Times reports McKinsey’s partners have voted to oust Kevin Sneader as global managing partner of the influential consulting firm, with the Scot judged for his handling of numerous crises.