By Sheila Mckenzie-
Although the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 presented unprecedented challenges to educational institutions worldwide, forcing them to adapt rapidly to new circumstances, not everybody is impressed with academic bodies using this to justify higher marks for students in the forthcoming exam results next month.
Regulator, Ofqual’s announcement that grade boundaries will be more than adjusted to take account of the pandemic in addition to its usual flexible approach to papers considered more difficult than others, has led critics to discredit the academic marking system as highly flawed and deceptive.
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Valid concerns about the compromise of educational standards and the implications for both students and the education system as a whole has been raised, with Ofqual and various academics included in the discussion about the move in the past month.
Parents and students have no complaints about the practise of adjusting grade boundaries, or the fact even more flexibility will be applied to this year’s exams results because of a pandemic that has been over for two years now.
Adjusting grade boundaries to ensure consistency with previous years and take account of the pandemic poses a risk of inadvertently devaluing educational achievement. Lowering the required quality of work to obtain a certain grade may lead to students attaining grades they would not have earned under normal circumstances.
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Critics say this can create an illusion of success without truly measuring a student’s knowledge and capabilities accurately. Consequently, this compromise threatens the credibility of qualifications and undermines the rigor of the educational system.
One GCSE teacher from London anonymously told The Eye Of Media.Com: ”This is just ridiculous pampering. Every year some excuse is given to provide better marks for students in the name of maintaining internationally competitive standards in statistics. It is not credible and should be discouraged. The pandemic has been over for two years now, and students had plenty of time to study since their return to classes.
‘Time lost during the lockdown period was a shame, but serious students worked hard at home and at school since then, and do not need any significant favours to improve their grades. Some adjustment to take into account lost time is understandable, but the idea of maintaining a certain percentage of people passing well or attaining particular grades makes the system lack a degree of credibility”.
”When students perceive that the standards have been relaxed, their motivation to work hard and excel diminishes. The prospect of achieving a specific grade with less effort may discourage students from striving for excellence and exploring their true potential. As a result, their academic growth and personal development may be stunted, limiting their future prospects and competitiveness in the job market or higher education.
‘The integrity of educational institutions heavily relies on maintaining consistent and rigorous grading standards. Adjusting grade boundaries to achieve consistency with previous years may erode the trust that students, parents, and employers place in the education system. Without confidence in the authenticity of qualifications, the credibility of the entire system is jeopardized, leading to doubts about the true competence of graduates.
”Academic rigor plays a vital role in preparing students for the challenges they will face in higher education and the workforce. By lowering standards, students may enter universities or professional fields ill-equipped to handle the academic demands, potentially leading to higher drop-out rates and a diminished ability to contribute meaningfully to their chosen fields.
Another A level teacher, John Dumbura said: ”Employers and universities may struggle to differentiate between candidates based on their grades if standards have been compromised. Students with inflated grades due to grade boundary adjustments may appear comparable to those who achieved similar grades under normal circumstances, leading to inequitable selection processes that do not accurately reflect a candidate’s abilities.
”Instead of sacrificing standards for consistency, educational institutions should focus on implementing adaptive and innovative assessment strategies to fairly evaluate students’ abilities during challenging times.
”Maintaining academic rigor and high standards is essential to ensure the quality and value of education and promote a competitive and capable future workforce.
”The Department of Education should investing in new assessment methodologies and providing additional support to students, the education system can maintain its integrity while adapting to the challenges of the 21st century”.
Academics still examining all sides of the argument surrounding the annual adjustment in grades are concerned about the implications such adjustments have on younger pupils who may see no reason to aspire to high grades in the years ahead by working consistently now.
There is also the issue of whether the system is fair, and why England is isolated in making such dramatic provisions for its students.
Ridicule
Some tutors who have taught students preparing for GCSE students in the past, have ridiculed a system that awards high grades to students who do not deserve them.
One French tutor who insisted on anonymity, told The Eye Of Media.Com that a student she had taught a few years ago who had been very weak in French came out with a B grade (grade6 )last year. She said: ”I would have liked to take credit for improving her French in such a short time, but the reality is she was brought to me just 5 weeks to the exam, and was very weak.
”She made substantial improvement in that time, but not enough to get a credible grade B in a national end of school exams like GCSE’s. A student who gets a B in French at GCSE, should not only be able to write to some degree in French, they should be able to speak it fairly well.
”Whilst I was happy for her, my professional view is that you cannot give a student a grade B, meaning they are good in the subject, if all indications from another competent professional is that they are far below being described as good in that subject. A grade B at GCSE should mean the student has a decent amount of knowledge in the subject, good enough to comfortably make the transition to A levels and fill in the gaps.
‘When I asked the girl if she would consider an A level in French, she replied ”God forbid”, and said ‘I’ll count by blessings now and just move on’.
Others claim examiners set questions a bit too high to give them the flexibility of tampering with the grades in the name of adjusting
Other countries are not known to be making adjustments in the marking of their end of school final year exams, although not all countries have been examined in this respect.
Academic test scores fell in many countries including America, but many affected countries simply stepped up hired tuition and academic dedication. China, America, Australia, India, Norway and Finland, to name a few, have made no adjustment in how they grade their students.
Rather they encourage their students to work extra hard, and work on setting exams questions they consider appropriate for the children.
Good tuition is not always affordable to every parents, but in the UK, even unemployed parents can struggle to afford to substitute the cost of their social life or drinking for some tuition for their children if they really want to.
Besides, the UK government offered a tuition programme to school children who need it during the pandemic.
Research suggests that two years after the pandemic, the main issue for many students is how consistent and hardworking they have been since the pandemic was over. A wide divide between hardworking and laid back teenagers tells the full story of why some students may need to be dependent on adjustments of grade boundaries.
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