How Europe managed to avoid results chaos ‘in spirit of goodwill’
The coronavirus pandemic has massively impacted education and exams across Europe but nowhere have claims of catastrophe been on a par with those in the UK.
While outrage rises over the Government’s handling of this year’s exam results, some countries on the continent have bumped up continuous assessment marks while others stuck to traditional exams despite health risks.
In France, the end-of-year exam known as the baccalauréat or “Bac”, equivalent to A-levels, was cancelled this year for the first time since its inception in 1808 under Napoleon.
Instead, the country’s 740,000 final-year students received an average score in each subject, based on marks they had been awarded for tests and coursework during the year.
Local juries were tasked with assessing and if necessary adjusting grades according to a national average and on the past examination records of schools. Jean-michel Blanquer, the French education minister, called the system “the most simple, secure and fair solution in these difficult times”.
If in doubt, examiners were told to err on the side of generosity “in a spirit of goodwill” under the circumstances.
As a result, France posted a record pass rate of more than 95 per cent, almost eight percentage points above the 2019 results.
This has forced the French government to create about 10,000 extra university places for the most popular subjects. Jean Castex, the prime minister, called the results “generous”. They represented the highest rise in pass rates since 1968. In Germany, all 16 states decided to push ahead with their end-of-year Abitur qualifications. While schools were closed during the March-june exam period, small groups of pupils sat tests at a distance of 1.5 metres in well-aired classrooms instead of halls.
Despite the different approach, most German states also reported higher than usual results. Fears that stress and health concerns could affect performance proved baseless. Indeed, experts speculated that pupils may have been able to focus more due to a lack of distractions.
The Netherlands, too, recorded a higher pass rate after its central school-leaving exams were cancelled, with schools awarding final marks on the basis of course work and the schools’ own tests, which pupils were also allowed to resit.
While almost five times as many high schools as usual reported a 100 per cent pass rate, according to one survey, the education ministry dismissed claims that the exams had been devalued. “This group of pupils had to take school exams under unexpected and difficult circumstances,” a spokesman said, adding that the cancellation of the central exams meant pupils had more time to study for the exams.
For Spain’s Selectividad university entrance exams, candidates chose three out of five questions and were not tested on anything learnt during lockdown. Each region was responsible for creating its own coronavirus exam procedure.
The pass rate across the country was within one percentage point of 2019, aside from northern Catalonia, hard-hit by the virus, where a majority of students did significantly better than in 2019. Some 67 per cent more scored above nine – out of a possible 10 – than in the previous year.
In Italy, around 500,000 students took only the oral part of their high-school diploma while wearing face masks but the normal three written tests were cancelled.
Marks were generally higher than in previous years amid reports of “generous” examiners who awarded the maximum score in 9.9 per cent of cases, compared with 5.6 per cent in 2019.
The Czech Republic and Slovakia postponed end-of-school exams.
Sweden, meanwhile, is set to cancel the second round of its scholastic aptitude tests, which helps many get places at university after scrapping the first round in March. They are likely to be replaced by two exams in 2021.