My story about unfair exam grades came true
A-LEVEL STUDENT WHO WROTE PIECE TO HELP SECURE PLACE AT TOP UNIVERSITY WAS DOWNGRADED FROM PREDICTED A TO B
A TEENAGER says she ‘fell into’ a story she had written when she was rejected from a top university.
Jess Johnson, 18, from Manchester, won an award for writing a dystopian fiction about an algorithm that sorted students into bands based on class.
But she said it was ‘ironic’ to find out that her grades were not what she expected after exams were cancelled this year.
Jess, a student at Ashton Sixth Form College, needed an A in English to earn a place at St Andrews in Scotland – where Kate Middleton and Prince William were students.
But she was downgraded from her predicted A to a B – putting the £16,000 scholarship she had achieved at risk.
She said she had undertaken lots of extra-curricular work to try to secure her place, which included writing A Band Apart.
“I wrote about the inequality in the education system,” she said.
“I wrote about the myth of meritocracy and it was about an algorithm that split people into bands based on the class that they were from.
“I feel like that is quite ironic, I’ve literally fallen into my own story.”
She added: “It’s disheartening and it feels quite unfair.”
The government was forced to perform a humiliating U-turn this week after admitting the algorithm used to standardise test results had resulted in unfair grades.
Following huge criticism from students, headteachers and a backlash by Tory MPs, grades will now be based on teachers’ assessments rather than the controversial algorithm by regulator Ofqual.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said he was ‘sorry for the distress this has caused.’
He apologised to students and parents affected by ‘significant inconsistencies’ with the grading process.
Following news of the U-turn, Jess said: “I am very thankful for that. I’m very excited about that, I’m glad they made the change.
“I think it would have been unfair if (Northern) Ireland, Scotland and Wales made the change and we didn’t, so I’m very glad.”
Jess questioned why the change had taken so long, coming four days after results were released on Thursday.
“It should have been changed a few days ago to be honest,” she said.
I wrote about the myth of meritocracy and an algorithm that split people into bands based on class Jess Johnson