By Gavin Mackintosh-
Students produced a record high of top grades for this years A-level results for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, after grade inflation came to their aid in the wake of the pandemic.
44.8% of students achieved A* or A grades in the second year of replacement results, after exams were cancelled. Schools this year used a range of factors to decide the final grades of pupils, including coursework and mock exams – with one in five schools having a sample of their grades checked by exam boards.
Most academics believe the system used to substitute exams by en large produces outcomes not far up the true ability of pupils, but admit it can never be as good as the real thing-exams.
Mock exams are usually not far off the standards of real exams, making it unlikely for students who do very well in mock exams to do poorly in the real exam. Factual statistics in this area would be useful to give a clearer picture.
Fact remains that pupils who get an A in the mock exams, do not necessarily get the same results in the real exam. Its a different day with different questions that can sometimes catch students off guard. Besides, grades generated from teachers discretion always runs the risk of bias in favour or against students.
Subjects like English literature which is based on in depth knowledge and written analysis of books or a series of books, is based on the assessment of the teacher.
This is so subjective and will many times see teachers favour pupils they like or whom they find to be focused and bright. Their judgement could differ widely when the same piece of work is marked by an examiner who does not know the student.
The idea of keeping pupils safe from the pandemic took priority over any consideration of in person exams, after schools and teacher unions strongly objected to the idea of sitting exams.
The results outstripped those of last year, when 38.5% achieved top grades. Heads’ leader Geoff Barton said it was “comparing apples with oranges” to compare these results with other years.
In reality, such comparisons can be made, because they give an indication of the force driving higher grades. Higher grades like these make it difficult for universities to distinguish students in the top bracket of performance, who may not belong to the same league as others sharing the same grades top grades as them.
‘On Tuesday morning, the admissions service Ucas said a record 396,000 students have been confirmed in their first choice course – up 8% on last year.
“We’ve always said outcomes from this year were likely to be different,” said Simon Lebus, interim chairman of the exams watchdog, Ofqual, but he assured students they had been “fairly treated” and grades, based on teachers’ judgements, could be trusted.
Schools this year used a range of factors to decide the final grades of pupils, including coursework and mock exams – with one in five schools having a sample of their grades checked by exam boards.
During the checking process, exam boards queried submitted grades in 15% of schools and colleges, but only 1% were altered.
National Association of Head Teachers’ leader Paul Whiteman rejected warnings of “grade inflation”, saying: “The results in 2021 cannot be easily compared to any other year.”
The Education Policy Institute said grades had been expected to be much higher overall, but of more concern would be “inconsistencies” at a local level.
England’s Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, praised students for their work in an “extraordinary and challenging year”, after claiming to have forgotten his own A levels results because they were 27 years ago.
“We should all celebrate their resilience and ability to overcome adversity,” he said.