Pressure grows to scrap exam downgrades

Government urged to honour teachers’ predicted grades to stop A-level results becoming a ‘lottery’

THE Government is under escalating pressure to follow Scotland’s lead and ensure all A-level pupils receive their predicted grades.

Amid a growing furore over results, which due to coronavirus have had to be determined without exams, John Swinney, the Scottish education minister, yesterday announced a major policy reversal after close to 125,000 students had their predicted results downgraded by a moderation process.

Mr Swinney said that all the downgraded results, awarded last week for the Scottish equivalents of GCSES and A-levels, would be withdrawn and replaced with teachers’ recommendations, telling the Scottish parliament that “we got this wrong”.

Parents and peers are now urging the Prime Minister to follow suit in England, where 250,000 students are set to receive A-level results tomorrow, and do away with the exam regulator’s algorithm – which takes into account pupils’ past performance as well as their school’s historic grades to determine results.

Ofqual, the regulator, has previously said that teachers’ predicted grades are “optimistic” and that if they were to rely on them, results would be 12 per cent higher on average.

Last night, the Government tried to head off criticism by introducing a “safety net” for A-level students, whereby they can choose whichever is higher out of the grade they receive on results day, one from autumn resits for those appealing their results, or one from a mock exam.

However, those calling for an aboutturn said this did not go far enough, and accused ministers of attempting to use this eleventh hour intervention as a “get out of jail free card”.

A report predicts that A-level grades, if awarded as the Government currently intends, will be a “lottery”, with results for students in the middle of their class “largely a matter of luck”.

Lord Baker, who was education secretary under Margaret Thatcher, said that the grading system this year is a “right bloody muddle”. He told The Daily Telegraph: “It looks as if Scotland has got it right and we are going to get it wrong. The people who suffer by general downgrading are the brightest students in the poorest schools. Scotland makes it exceptionally difficult for the Prime Minister. It’s egg on face, there is no question about that.”

Parents also called on the Government to follow Scotland saying that children have been “punished enough already”. Molly Kingsley, co-founder of the parent campaign group Usforthem,

said: “If there is as much controversy over results here as there has been in Scotland, parents will be seriously distressed. They will be writing to their MPS applying pressure for a U-turn.”

Dr Tony Breslin, a former chief examiner, said the “writing is on the wall” for Ofqual, the exam regulator, to change its stance on teachers’ predictions: “The worst outcome of this for a number of young people, who have had their education interrupted in all kinds of ways, is that they will get slightly better grades this year. Is that really a problem?”

Labour joined the chorus of voices calling on the Government to abandon its algorithm. Sir Keir Starmer said it was a “blatant injustice” that youngsters risked having their futures decided on the basis of their postcode.

“I would urge the Prime Minister to change course, or he risks robbing a generation of their future,” he said.

Last night, Northern Ireland’s qualifications body announced students can appeal their results free of charge this year and on a wider range of grounds.

Gavin Williamson, the Education Secretary, said: “By ensuring students have the safety net of mock results, as well as the chance of autumn exams we are creating a triple lock to ensure they have confidence to take the next steps forward in work or education.

“This triple lock system will help make sure that we award the fairest results possible.”

A report published today by Buckingham University’s Centre for Education and Employment Research found that grades this summer will be “a lottery”. While it may be clear who is at the top and bottom of their class, it is far more difficult for teachers to accurately rank students in the middle.

“This could make a difference of a grade or even more and massively affect life chances,” the report said.