Virus killed 16 rough sleepers in lockdown
PUPILS COULD miss out on the exam results they deserve this summer, as the system for awarding and moderating grades is at risk of inaccuracy and bias against those from disadvantaged backgrounds, MPs have warned.
The Commons Education Select Committee report said England’s exams regulator’s process for allowing students to appeal against their grades if they believe discrimination has occurred is not accessible for all students.
The summer exams were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead, GCSE and A-level students in England will be awarded calculated grades on the usual dates next month based on teacher assessment.
But the committee said it was “concerned” that poorer pupils, black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) students, and children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) “could be disadvantaged” by calculated grades, especially in light of evidence on unconscious bias.
The report calls for pupils with SEND to be able to appeal against
Committee chairman Robert Halfon on the grading system. results on the basis of malpractice if appropriate access arrangements were not in place for the work used to calculate their grade.
The MPs argued that disadvantaged pupils, and those without family resources or wider support, “risk being shut out” of the appeals system which is likely to favour more affluent students.
Individual pupils will not be allowed to challenge teacher-assessed grades or rank order – but a school can appeal to the exam board if it believes it made an error when submitting a grade, or if it believes an exam board made a mistake.
Ofqual has said it expects exam boards to investigate evidence of “serious malpractice” raised by pupils who have concerns about bias or discrimination surrounding teacher-assessed grades and rank order.
But the MPs said: “We are extremely concerned that pupils will require evidence of bias or discrimination to raise a complaint about their grades. It is unrealistic and unfair to put the onus on pupils to have, or to be able to gather, evidence of bias or discrimination.”
On the grading system, committee chairman Robert Halfon said: “There is a risk it will lead to unfair bias and discrimination against already disadvantaged groups and we are far from convinced that the appeal system, which will be more important than ever this year, will be fair.”
Students in England who are unhappy with teacher-assessed grades, or who are unable to receive a calculated grade this summer, can take A-level exams in October and GCSE exams in November.
An Ofqual spokesman said: “We have extensively tested the model to ensure it gives students the fairest, most accurate results possible and, so far as possible, that students are not advantaged or disadvantaged on the basis of their socioeconomic background or particular protected characteristics, and we will evaluate outcomes.”
SIXTEEN HOMELESS people are known to have died with coronavirus in England during the first three months of the lockdown, analysis has found.
The deaths of 16 homeless people involving coronavirus were registered between March 26 and June 26, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed.
But it cautioned that the figure may be an underestimate of the true number of homeless people who have died with the virus.
Separate research has shown that young people at risk of homelessness were being told to sleep rough in order to be housed in emergency hotel and hostel accommodation.
The homelessness charity, Centrepoint, said calls to its helpline from young people experiencing homelessness rose 75 per cent during the pandemic.
While many homeless youngsters had access to hotel rooms, they have been forced to leave as that funding has run out.
Chief executive Seyi Obakin said: “Due to the pandemic, young people have been in more danger and in more vulnerable situations than ever before. While everyone is being told to stay in and stay safe, too many homeless young people cannot do this.”
The charity called for more funding to stop young people who were “sofa surfing” before the pandemic being forced to sleep on the streets.
There is a risk it will lead to unfair bias and discrimination.