09 August 2021

Possible rise in students gaining top results not a ‘devaluing of grades’

09 August 2021

A possible rise in the number of students achieving top A-level results does not represent a “devaluing of grades”, a school leaders’ union has said.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said this year’s students have suffered more disruption than any cohort and their results should be “celebrated”.

His comments came ahead of students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland receiving their A-level results on Tuesday after exams were cancelled for the second year in a row due to the pandemic.

Teachers in England submitted their decisions on pupils’ grades after drawing on a range of evidence, including mock exams, coursework and in-class assessments using questions by exam boards.

Concerns have been raised that “inflated grades” will become the new norm, making it more difficult for universities to “select accurately and fairly”.

A social mobility expert has warned that it could be even harder for less advantaged students “to compete on a level playing field” this summer for a variety of reasons – including “grade inflation”.

But Mr Barton said: “There has been speculation about the possibility of grade inflation this year.

“It would not be surprising if the distribution of grades is different from years when exams take place, or indeed the grade distribution last year, because this year’s approach to assessment is different from other years and making direct comparisons is therefore akin to comparing apples with oranges.

This cohort of students has suffered more educational disruption than any cohort since the Second World War and their achievements are extraordinary in such difficult circumstances and should be celebrated

“This does not represent a devaluing of the grades awarded. On the contrary.

“This cohort of students has suffered more educational disruption than any cohort since the Second World War and their achievements are extraordinary in such difficult circumstances and should be celebrated.”

Ofqual interim chief regulator Simon Lebus told the BBC that pupils in England awaiting their A-level and GCSE results can “feel satisfied” that their grades are fair this summer.

He said there have been three stages of checks to ensure students can feel they have been “fairly treated”, including Ofqual checking the policies that schools have for awarding grades and exam boards looking over them.

Ahead of A-level results day, Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, said: “More than any other year, we must do all we can to ensure that the A-level results are fair to all pupils irrespective of what school they happen to attend or where they come from.

“A number of factors are likely to conspire to make it even harder for less privileged students to compete on a level playing field, from larger learning loss suffered during the pandemic, to the inevitable variation in teacher assessments by different schools, to the chances of appealing against grades, to the increasing competition for degree places fuelled by grade inflation.”

Last summer, the fiasco around grading led to thousands of A-level students having their results downgraded from school estimates before Ofqual announced a U-turn.

This year there will not be an algorithm used to moderate grades.

In a letter thanking teachers ahead of results day, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said their hard work “will have earned the trust” of the country.

He said: “The teacher-assessed grades process has, I know, taken a significant amount of work, but you took it on and worked, as you always do, for the greatest benefit for your pupils.

“We all know that for young people to progress to the next stage of their lives, they need qualifications that they can have confidence in and which reflect accurately what they have learnt and what they can do.

“Right at the start of the pandemic I said that people would now have a far greater appreciation of what teachers do and this will only have increased as the months passed.

“Your hard work will have earned the trust and admiration of the whole country. In fact, I think that, as a nation, we have perhaps never valued education as much as we do now.”

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