A Painful Lesson

A painful lesson

Over four and a half million young people were due to sit their GCSEs and approximately 280,000 were meant to be taking A-level exams this summer. When the unprecedented restrictions brought about by Covid-19 emerged, there was some speculation that students could potentially sit the exams remotely and schools were initially discouraged from relying on predicted grades. However, the career aspirations of many students were delivered a setback in August when 40% of A level results in England were downgraded having been based on complex Mathematically modelled computer-generated algorithms, which used a formula based on schools` prior grades from previous years.

Grade A standard students were awarded A-level grades usually earned by those in the lower sets, and how well students could perform was based on those who attended their schools before them.

It would appear that the Government s handling of the exam results has been reprehensible and inconsistent at worst and incompetent and inept at best. What compounded and magnified the issues was the last-minute changes adding to the uncertainty rather than a carefully cultivated and planned policy for deciding exam results.

What this means for those caught up in this shifting dynamic is not only the loss of University places and but also then choosing alternative courses resulting in careers that were not originally planned, leaving behind a trail of shattered dreams and ruined aspirations in the ensuing tsunami of chaos and confusion. Fortunately, now the teachers` estimates will be awarded to students unless of course, the computer algorithm came up with a higher grade. The idiom better late than never comes to mind. In the absence of any exams, however, this also means that those type of learners who give their all in the last few months in the run up to exams were denied the opportunity of a strong finish

As an established and professional teacher of some eighteen years I can appreciate that exams have been considerably toughened up since 2017 when the Government introduced the new numerical grading system known as the 9-1 scheme. Our students have worked incredibly hard and diligently and sacrificed their leisure time to achieve success. This, in spite of other sets of challenges whereby inner-city areas of Birmingham have some of the highest levels of poverty and subsequent low levels of attainment. Though some can take a sigh of relief that the last-minute changes mean that exams grades will now be based on teacher assessments, others argue that these will still be unfair for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Last month, The Commons Education Committee (which scrutinises the work of the Department for Education) pointed out that there was a significant and demonstrable proof of bias. OFQUAL s deputy regulator observed that for the most able students from BAME communities, there tends to be an under-prediction of the grades that students go on to get . This has meant that hardworking and higher achieving children from disadvantaged schools were being downgraded. In contrast, private schools were enjoying an average increase of just under 5%.

So, what s next?

Even after the Government s U-turn, if students should remain unhappy, they could appeal. However, this then means having to wait until autumn (October) to retake, otherwise, proceed with second choices at higher education. OFQUAL have agreed that schools can appeal against both GCSE and A level grades. Students cannot appeal directly& the school must do so on their behalf. Alternatively, pupils can ask the school to have a result looked at again. This is known as requesting a review . As far as the time scale is concerned, this is difficult to say since exam boards don t know how many appeals there will be.