By Josh Newsham and Edited by Tom Guyton-Day
Gove Playing bowls
280,000 students have been let down by the government on their A-Level results. Almost 40% of all grades awarded have been downgraded because of the Government’s new grading system which seeks to replicate real world testing that year on year fails ordinary pupils and advances the privately educated.
I write this as an A level student who has experienced this scandal first-hand. When our exams were cancelled, many teachers expressed concerns about how exams would be graded and suggested the Government must act in a way that lifts people up to their potential not drag them down. The Government pledged to be fair; we are in a pandemic after all and it severely disrupted education for hundreds of thousands of students by taking us into lockdown. They also pledged to release results before August, since the standard marking system would not take place and thus, would be able to release them earlier and give more time for appeals and adjustments.
This clearly has not been the case. The government has not been fair, it did not release results early, and it still does not have a proper appeals process in place with the Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, announcing a new appeals process just days before results day without consulting colleges or even notifying them of how the system would work. This despite having months to form a system.
I write this as an A level student who has experienced this scandal first-hand. When our exams were cancelled, many teachers expressed concerns about how exams would be graded and suggested the Government must act in a way that lifts people up to their potential not drag them down. The Government pledged to be fair; we are in a pandemic after all and it severely disrupted education for hundreds of thousands of students by taking us into lockdown. They also pledged to release results before August, since the standard marking system would not take place and thus, would be able to release them earlier and give more time for appeals and adjustments.
This clearly has not been the case. The government has not been fair, it did not release results early, and it still does not have a proper appeals process in place with the Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, announcing a new appeals process just days before results day without consulting colleges or even notifying them of how the system would work. This despite having months to form a system.
Colleges across the country have been left in the dark as they see many of their students getting far lower grades than those recommended by them. Even Justine Greening, former Education Secretary and former Tory, has criticised the government calling the grading system a “levelling down in action”. This is a scandal and a failure of the government to provide a legitimate trustworthy education process that has occurred for a range of reasons. Surely, they should be lifting people up during the worst recession in British history and a pandemic?
It all started with Michael Gove as education secretary, introducing linear A-levels so there would only be an official exam at the end of the two-year course rather than the original modular system which included lots of smaller exams (which might have been helpful this year). This was an attempt to return to a facts-based exams process, more in keeping with 1940s Britain. It is clear, this linear system has failed under the current circumstance and has put so many students in far worse conditions than they would be if they had a national standardised AS exam after their first year to refer to.
If linear A-Levels were not in place and an AS exam occurred at the end of the first year A Levels, there would be a national standardised grade to compare each student fairly in order to determine a final grade.
Are we surprised private schools have benefited from the new grading system? Private schools saw a 4.7% increase in A grade or above from 2019 to 2020 compared to the 2018-2019 academic year with poorer pupils being penalised for their postcodes.
It all started with Michael Gove as education secretary, introducing linear A-levels so there would only be an official exam at the end of the two-year course rather than the original modular system which included lots of smaller exams (which might have been helpful this year). This was an attempt to return to a facts-based exams process, more in keeping with 1940s Britain. It is clear, this linear system has failed under the current circumstance and has put so many students in far worse conditions than they would be if they had a national standardised AS exam after their first year to refer to.
If linear A-Levels were not in place and an AS exam occurred at the end of the first year A Levels, there would be a national standardised grade to compare each student fairly in order to determine a final grade.
Are we surprised private schools have benefited from the new grading system? Private schools saw a 4.7% increase in A grade or above from 2019 to 2020 compared to the 2018-2019 academic year with poorer pupils being penalised for their postcodes.
Credit: Kirsten Drew
The question after all this is “is this system fair?” and evidently it is not. How can an algorithm (that Ofqual are yet to publish or be clear about) decide someone’s ability over teachers who have known these students for years and seen first-hand their ability? Many students will not get into university or meet clearing standards, simply because the algorithm dropped them by one grade. It is not economically sensible or ethical to punish students or drag their grades down simply because of how students performed at that college last year or how they performed in High School.
It is safe to conclude that this has been the biggest educational mess up since the 1960s where we saw mass student protest. Less wealthy areas and colleges have been punished while private schools have been lifted up. After all this, the government is showing no sign of concession and seem proud of the system they have created - after calls from all sides of the political spectrum from Labour to Liberal Democrats, and even Conservative members to reconsider this disastrous policy.
It is safe to conclude that this has been the biggest educational mess up since the 1960s where we saw mass student protest. Less wealthy areas and colleges have been punished while private schools have been lifted up. After all this, the government is showing no sign of concession and seem proud of the system they have created - after calls from all sides of the political spectrum from Labour to Liberal Democrats, and even Conservative members to reconsider this disastrous policy.
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