English, Welsh and Northern Ireland regulators said Monday that A levels, which determine university entry and are normally taken by 18-year-olds, would no longer be determined by a controversial algorithm.
After the exams were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, students were instead assessed on the basis of an algorithm – the results of which were announced last Thursday.
This saw close to 40% of A-level students in England downgraded from those provided by their teachers, according to the Office for Qualifications and Exam Regulation (Ofqual).
More than 200,000 results were downgraded, which changed the futures of tens of thousands of students who needed set degrees to get into university.
Many students lost places at their chosen universities because they did not get the degrees they were predicted to. Campaigns say the downgrading disproportionately affected students from disadvantaged and diverse schools.
The widespread downgrading caused young people to consume brains and provoke massive protests, with students seeing their results burning in London Square.
In an interview after the U-turn was announced on Monday afternoon, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said he was “incredibly sorry for all those students who have been this.”
Williamson said the government had tried “to ensure we have the fairest possible system,” but that there were “injustices” in the way the degrees were awarded.
“Over the weekend, it became clear to me that there were a … number of students who received degrees that honestly they should not have received,” he said, adding that it was “apparently action had to be taken” become. “
“The pandemic has created circumstances that no one had ever thought of or wished for,” Taylor said. “We now want to take steps to remove as much stress and uncertainty as possible for young people – and free up heads and teachers to work towards the important task of getting all schools open in two weeks.”
“After reflection, we decided that the best way to do this is to assign ranges based on what teachers submit,” he added.
Center grades (those predicted by student schools) will now be used for students at the end of A level and for GCSE results that younger (mostly 16-year-old) students will receive later this week.
Taylor said Ofqual had been asked by the government to develop a system for awarding standards that maintain standards, but acknowledged “that it has also caused real anger and damaged public confidence.”
Thomas Chandler, from Richmond, North Yorkshire, was predicted by his teachers to have three A * s. He needed an A * in English or German to attend Cambridge University to study Classics, but both were graduated to As and he was rejected.
“It’s incredibly frustrating and disturbing,” he told CNN. “It can have a very negative effect on my mental health. Financially, of course, it is also very hard.”
He said the way the UK government had handled the situation was “appalling.”
A document released by Ofqual found that 40% of students received results one or two degrees lower than their previous degrees, according to the non-profit Good Law Project; 3.5% of A-level results – more than 30,000 – were reduced by two or more degrees.
U-turn too late for some?
Ofqual initially said students could appeal their results for free, before saying on Sunday that the new criteria should be tested. This was followed by the almost-turn on Monday.
But for many students, it may be too late.
Gemma Abbott, the legal director of the Good Law Project, told CNN: “On the face of it, turning to center-right classes is the best way to deal with the situation we are in now. It’s not perfect, but it’s significantly better. than the Ofqual algorithm.
“There are ramifications for government incompetence and predictions that cannot be undone, however: In particular, it seems likely that some university places will have to be postponed until next year due to space issues. And I do not think so. that the young people affected by this will easily forgive – or forget – the willingness of the government to sacrifice their hopes and dreams in pursuit of the much less important goal of minimizing grade inflation. “
“This is a cohort of young people who have had an unusual limitation on their education. That they have already been in a really difficult situation,” she added.
The Good Law Project, which launched legal action against Ofqual on behalf of six students, said the reductions affected students from inferior and diverse schools to a much greater extent. Some institutions saw 80% of their students downgraded.
Surrounding schools that pay with fees saw an overall increase in the number of students reaching the top grades – by about 4.7% from 2019 onwards.
The Good Law Project said this turned out to be due to the fact that students in larger classes almost graduated based on patterns of achievement at their institution in previous years.
In Italy, high school students took oral exams instead of written final exams, with social distancing and mask-wearing maintained, except during questioning.
Additional Reporting by Lauren Kent.
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