After the A-levels fiasco, what’s the best way to grade pupils’ achievements?

MUCH has been said about the A-level fiasco, but what it does not take into account is the human factor. I have seen pupils get excellent marks for a whole academic year, but once they enter the exam room they lose it completely. They end up with poorer grades than their term work and than their teachers, parents and, more importantly, they themselves anticipated.

Exams should be taken in stages in schools.

K. BELL, Bradford, W. Yorks. Bearing in mind it’s generally the same teachers who taught in 2019 and this year, should they be congratulated for the massive improvement in A-level grades, determined by their assessment this year, compared with last year’s results, determined by exams? or just maybe the results determined by the algorithm

were more consistent. If this situation happens again, might we assess the teachers’ competence to assess their pupils abilities?

M. LYNCHEHAUN, Wallasey, Wirral.

SCHOOLS have been closed for months, but compared with last year, there has been a massive increase in A* and A grades. Close schools until next spring to maintain this level of improvement! Seriously, though, it is teachers who have let pupils down by giving unrealistic predicted grades.

TERRY CANDLER, Clacton-on-Sea, Essex.

WHAT happens if the algorithm upgraded any students or, conversely, if teachers failed pupils? The final exam system has its critics, but it is still the best way to assess students.

JOSEPH HAYES, Shepshed, Leics.

HOW have we arrived with this education system? There is the expectation that after 14 years of schooling, young adults see university as the norm. If they do not get a place, they think their lives have been ruined. We have failed our youngsters.

PATRICIA GROVE, Kidderminster, Worcs.

WHAT happens if the teachers come to the same conclusion as the computer?

JOHN EVANS, Wokingham, Berks.

THE underlying problem has been caused by teachers being overzealous with predicted grades. The figures speak for themselves. The Government was placed in a no-win situation.

GEORGE COOKSON, Wakefield, W. Yorks. HOW sorry I feel for A-level students. The Government certainly should be downgraded from A to U. DAVID PAUL, Milton Keynes, Bucks.