Marking fiasco set to hit GCSE children too

AROUND the same proportion of GCSEs as A-levels are expected to be downgraded when results come out next week.

Up to two million of the grades could be dragged down, researchers say, in what would be a repeat of the A-level marking debacle.

Research organisation the FFT Education Datalab calculated 35 to 40 per cent of grades given by teachers are likely to be downgraded by Ofqual’s computer moderating system.

On Thursday, it emerged that 39 per cent of teacher-assessed A-levels had been downgraded. If the GCSE system works in the same way as the A-level algorithm, which adjusted each school’s performance so that it was in line with the last three years’ results, then lower income students will be disproportionately affected again.

But the impact is likely to be even worse because nearly every pupil takes GCSEs, while only around half take A-levels. Philip Nye, a researcher at the Datalab, told The Guardian: ‘There are more disadvantaged pupils taking GCSEs than there are at A-levels, so potentially downgrades could be more widespread.’

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: ‘We fear this will happen again next Thursday but on a larger scale because many more GCSEs are taken.’

An Ofqual spokesman said: ‘We extensively tested possible variations of the model to ensure we selected the one which gives students the most accurate results possible.’