During 2020 and 2021 millions of 17 and 18 year olds in the UK had their final year at school disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. During these years, the respective governments made the decision to cancel the exam diets for A-Level/ Scottish Highers students (as well as GCSE and Baccalaureate exams). Governments were forced to quickly redesign their assessment systems in light of school closures and social distancing measures and schools were asked to provide ‘Centre Assessment Grades’. These were estimations of the grades that students would be likely to receive if they were to have sat the exams (Pankaj and Wood, 2022) with Ofqual (the Office of Qualifications and Examination Regulation) and exam boards creating a statistical model to standardise grades. The Department of Education (2020) stated how this model took into account the full range of evidence for students’ previous and predicted performance; including exams, mocks and homeworks…
However, when the first set of CAG exam results came out in August 2020, many students were left disappointed by grades significantly lower than they were expecting. Students, parents and teachers protested the ‘unfair’ algorithm and after significant pressure the government announced that results would be based on unmoderated teacher-assessed grades (Pankaj and Wood, 2022). Despite this U-Turn there were significant concerns about the inequalities created by this grading system; specifically the disproportionate success of students enrolled in private schools compared to their public school counterparts.
For many, sitting A-Levels/ Highers is the most stressful event of their lives to date and this stress was enhanced by the uncertainty surrounding covid, school closures and exam certifications. After putting in the work for two years, many students felt ‘cheated’ when they opened their exam results to see their grades had been downgraded (Halliday, 2020). Over a third (35.6%) of A-Level results in England were downgraded by one grade from the initial CAG (Ofqual, 2020). This was especially felt by pupils in disadvantaged areas: 10% of students from disadvantaged backgrounds who initially received a ‘C’ in the CAG had their final result lowered by one grade or more. This is compared to 8% of students being marked down from non-disadvantaged backgrounds (Adams and McIntyre, 2020). This unequal distribution can be seen in the disparities between students receiving A and A* grades in private versus comprehensive schools. Ofqual data shows that the proportion of independent school students that received a final grade of A or A* was over double the proportion of students at comprehensive schools (Ofqual, 2020). Some private schools reported witnessing a 50% increase in the number of A and A* grades awarded in 2020, in comparison to 2019 (Lynn and Dixon, 2020). These figures highlight the pattern of consistent barriers to higher education that state school educated students face.
The effects of the ‘exam fiasco’ (Benn, 2020) are not just limited to the summer of 2020 and the impacts of these grade inequalities had significant knock-on effects for many student’s futures. Students who did not receive the necessary grades on the 13th August had their places rejected. They then faced a difficult few days where they had to make alternative plans for their futures until the U-Turn decision was announced on the 17th August. If a student’s first choice university had already rejected them before their grades were changed they were asked to contact the university they had initially applied to where it was up to the university to decide whether to reverse their admission decision. Previously there was a cap on the number of students universities could recruit, yet this was lifted in order to deal with the changes. For example, Edinburgh University took on around 1,000 more students than their average from previous years (Edinburgh University, 2022). As of present there is no available information for the amount of students that were unable to go to their first choice university despite their CAG meeting their offers, but due to worries from universities about oversubscription, the numbers are expected to have been significant. The impacts of the 2020 exam handling triggered further impacts for 2021 exam students due to previous students deferring their places and in order to counteract the effects of oversubscription, many students predicted to receive high grades did not receive offers (Fazackerley, 2021).
The handling of the 2020 exam situation caused extreme stress and anxiety amongst the whole student population, yet the evidence shows that students from state schools were disproportionately affected by the impacts of the government handing. This has contributed to a further increase in inequalities in universities and more barriers that state educated students face. It is time to close the gap and societies/ charities such as the 93% club are aiming to tackle these inequalities. Yet, when these inequalities are being reinforced by governmental decisions, it seems like the battle may be never ending.
Halliday, J. (2020). ‘‘I feel cheated’: Rotherham students struggle to make sense of exam grades.’ The Guardian, 13 August. [Online]. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/aug/13/i-feel-cheated-rotherham-students-struggle-to-make-sense-of-exam-grades [Accessed 24 February 2022]
Adams, R and McIntyre N. (2020). ‘England A-level downgrades hit pupils from disadvantaged areas hardest’. The Guardian, 13 August. [Online]. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/aug/13/england-a-level-downgrades-hit-pupils-from-disadvantaged-areas-hardest [Accessed 24 February 2022]
Lynn, R and Dixon, J. (2020). ‘Dixie Grammar School A Level Results 2020’. Dixie Grammar School, 13 August. [Online]. Available at: https://www.dixie.org.uk/2020/08/13/dixie-grammar-school-a-level-results-2020/ [Accessed 24 February 2022]
Pankaj, S and Wood, C. (2022). ‘The Future of GCSEs, A-Levels and University Admissions Post Covid-19’. Regent. [Online]. Available at: https://www.rcl.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/the-future-of-gcses-alevels-and-university-admissions-post-covid-19.pdf [Accessed 24 February 2022]
Lewis, O. (2021). ‘The Student in conversation with Edinburgh’s 93% club’. The Student. [Online]. Available at: https://studentnewspaper.org/article/the-student-in-conversation-with-edinburghs-93-club [Accessed 24 February 2022]
Rawlinson, K. (2020). ‘What do the U-turns on exam results mean for the UK’s students?’. The Guardian, 17 August. [Online]. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/aug/17/what-does-the-uk-governments-u-turn-on-exam-results-mean [Accessed 24 February 2022]
Quinn, B. (2020). ‘UK exams debacle: how did this year’s results end up in chaos?’. The Guardian, 17 August. [Online]. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/aug/17/uk-exams-debacle-how-did-results-end-up-chaos [Accessed 24 February 2022]
Fazackerley, A. (2021). ‘Top pupils rejected by universities in A-levels fiasco fallout’. The Guardian, 22 May. [Online]. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/may/22/top-pupils-rejected-by-universities-in-a-levels-fiasco-fallout [Accessed 24 February 2022]
Edinburgh University Geographical Society 