@fallen_acorns - you are accusing the media of pushing a false narrative, whilst peddling your own. The suggestion that because as a group, their results are a small improvement on previous years the system is fair is ********. Was keeping CAGs a perfect option? No, but arbitrarily downgrading students without bothering to assess whether they've been predicted too high is ridiculous, and downgrading students by 2 or 3 grades (and indeed upgrading other students) is frankly unjustifiable. How can you claim that grades are more accurate by being modulated based on a schools prior attainment than being left to the assessment of people who've known the students for at least 2 years? Imagine having been working at an A* standard for 2 years, but because your school haven't had anyone above a B in your subject in the last 3 years, you get a B. Additionally, private schools have done far better relatively than any other type of school, which is unacceptable (but unsurprising under the current government).
Personally, I think they should have set out clear requirements and requested each school (or even each teacher) to provide evidence of why they have given each grade to each student, and checked a couple of them per group (as they do in coursework moderation). Having not done that, I believe there is really no option other than to accept CAGs.
A final note - while the Welsh government have said there will be no fees for appeals, the English government has said it is down to the exam boards. Some exam boards have fees of £100 per appeal - schools in poorer areas simply will not be able to afford that.