By Gavin Mackintosh-
Government figures released today reveal a substantial increase in appeals for GCSE and A-level exam grades over the past year, with over 65,000 challenges submitted in comparison to 2022.
The number of appeals have not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels. The 303,270 appeals lodged in 2023 still fall short of the 343,905 recorded in 2019.
The past academic year marked the second consecutive year of exams following the cancellation due to Covid in 2020 and 2021. Although grading standards were mostly restored to pre-pandemic levels, some adaptations were implemented to acknowledge the educational upheaval caused by the ongoing health crisis.
Despite the significant increase in appeals, the percentage of grade changes has maintained stability. In 2023, 4.9% of the 6,171,265 marks awarded were challenged, reflecting a modest 1 percentage point rise from 2022.
Comparatively, this remains consistent with the 2019 figure of 6% of marks challenged. The intriguing aspect lies in the fact that, although appeals have surged, the proportion of altered grades has not seen a significant uptick.
Analysis of the latest figures provides insights into subject-specific trends. At GCSE, grades B at AS and A level (35.2%), grade 3 GCSEs (22.7%), and grades 4 to 3 for GCSE combined science (16.1%) emerged as the most challenged marks.
When compared to 2019, the percentage of grades challenged in 2023 decreased in 26 of the 31 GCSE subjects.
In 2019, there were almost 70,000 marks were altered, equating to about 1.15 per cent of marks awarded, compared to 54,000 marks (0.9 per cent) were changed in 2022, and 66,205 (1.07 per cent) this summer.
The data prompts a closer examination of the broader implications of the ongoing challenges in the education sector.
It is yet to be established the grounds on which appeals are both made and successful, and whether this suggests there might be errors in the grading of other students who have not bothered to appeal their exam grades.