GCSE appeals to soar as ‘9 to 1’ grades roll out

A RECORD number of GCSE appeals are anticipated this year, as the nine-toone grading system is introduced across all major subjects.

The number of appeals increased from 114 in 2016 to 479 last year as some new GCSES were phased in.

A former chief examiner has warned that another “significant” rise is likely this year, adding “we should have seen this coming”.

Students picking up their results on Thursday will be the first to take the new courses across almost all subjects.

Michael Gove introduced the reforms when serving as education secretary, as part of an attempt to inject rigour into the qualifications.

The reformed exams, marked in numerical grades from nine to one, rather than A* to G, are designed to set apart the highest achievers, with roughly half as many nines awarded as A*s.

Grade 7 is broadly equivalent to an A, and grade 4 a C. There is less coursework and students sit exams at the end of the course, rather than throughout.

Dr Tony Breslin, a former chief examiner for GCSES, said: “One of the unintended consequences of exam reform is that appeals, requests for remark and everything else in that field significantly increases. Perhaps we should have seen this coming.”

Three years ago, Ofqual, the exams watchdog, tightened up its appeal rules with examiners now told to only change a mark if there is a clear error.

Dr Breslin, who runs an education consultancy, also warned of “growing concern about the reliability of marking”. He added: “Boards pay examiners peanuts. They find it hard to recruit and the barriers to being an examiner have mostly been dropped or relaxed. What we have is a marking community who are deskilled.”

A spokesman for the Joint Council for Qualifications, which represents exam boards, said that examiners were “trained professionals” and none of its members had reported staff shortages.