Exams in 2021 ‘must avoid prizes for all’

THE exam regulator has been urged to avoid a “prizes for all” approach for the second year running as it draws up plans for A-levels and GCSES.

The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) has been warned that if it allows the same proportion of pupils to win top grades as it did this year, it risks “baking in” grade inflation.

The watchdog is drawing up a grading system for next s ummer’s ex ams which i nvolves deciding where grade boundaries will be set.

“The one thing we would want to avoid if we possibly can is the ‘everyone must have prizes approach’ we had this summer,” a source said.

Gavin Williamson, the Education Secretary, has insisted that exams in England will go ahead because they are the “fairest way” of judging performance, but concedes that these will need to be “underpinned by contingency measures”. Downing Street officials are keen to avoid a repeat of this summer’s chaos, in which a controversial algorithm was ditched in favour of teachers’ predicted grades.

Ofqual already uses a statistical model called “comparable outcomes” to ensure that roughly the same proportion of pupils are awarded top grades each year.

For the 2021 exams, one option under consideration is to disregard the 2020 results and peg the grade proportions to 2019 results.

Teacher unions have said it would be “unconscionable” for results to be pegged to 2019, saying some grade inflation should be allowed.

An Ofqual spokesman said: “We know that schools, colleges and students want to k now more a b o ut t he approach that we will take to setting standards in summer 2021.

“Before taking that decision, we are talking to exam boards, government, school and college leaders, parents and students.”