Students could face ‘wild west’ of grades this year, education select committee warns

Chair raises concerns grade inflation could be ‘much higher’ this summer

Exams have been cancelled for the second year in a row amid the coronavirus pandemic (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Students could face a “Wild West” approach to grading this summer under the system replacing exams, the education select committee has warned.

Teacher-assessed grades will be awarded this year after exams were cancelled for the second year in a row due to disruption from the coronavirus pandemic.

Robert Halfon, the Tory MP who chairs the committee, has written to the education secretary with concerns over the arrangements, warning of the potential for grade inflation and a lack of consistency between schools.

Under plans, teachers will have wide flexibility in how they form judgments, including the option to use questions set by exam boards.

Schools will be given guidance to make sure their assessment process is “fair” and exam boards will do checks on schools using a representative sample, as well as through more targeted checks using risk-based criteria, according to the government.

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“Without standardised assessments and with a lack of external, impartial assessors to provide the checks and balances to guarantee fairness, there is every possibility of a ‘wild West’ playing out with grades this summer,” Mr Halfon said in his letter.

“A system without these components, relying principally on internal quality assurance and sample checks, really risks inconsistency in approaches and results between schools and colleges.”

Teachers told The Independent they had doubts over the fairness of this system for students across England, as well as concerns over the potential for grade inflation, when it was revealed last month.

The education secretary said exam boards will carry out checks to “root out malpractice” and insisted teacher-assessed grades will be fair amid concerns.

But in his letter to Gavin Williamson, education select committee chair Mr Halfon said: “We have a real fear that the package of measures being proposed, as it stands, risks much higher grade inflation happening this summer, possibly well beyond what was seen last August.”

He added: “This would, of course, have absolutely no benefit or value to anyone, and especially not to students in the long term.

“It would also create chaos for the thousands of students chasing college, and further and higher education places come August.”

The proportion of A-level and GCSE entries in England awarded top grades surged to a record high last year, when exams were also cancelled, after a U-turn allowed students to use teacher predicted grades.

A controversial algorithm had initially downgraded tens of thousands of A-level marks in moderation.

Mr Halfon said there were “no easy answers given what has happened with Covid”.

“However, the DfE [Department for Education] and Ofqual should consider some kind of standardised assessment and a more robust way of validating teacher-assessed grades,” he said.

On Thursday, Dr Mary Bousted from the National Education Union (NEU) said it was likely that there would be "some grade inflation" this summer.

The NEU’s joint general secretary accused the government of "hiding behind" teachers who are likely to be "lambasted" if this summer’s GCSE and A-level grades are higher.

This year’s system has also come under fire after officials confirmed students would be able look up exam board materials that could be used for their grading in advance online.

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School leaders and education experts warned the move could benefit more privileged students.

But Ofqual, England’s exam regulator, said the decision was taken as it would not be possible to prevent questions from being leaked once made available to teachers - which could give some pupils an “unfair advantage”.

In response to the education select committee’s letter, an Ofqual spokesperson said the regulator agreed that “there are no easy answers given what has happened” over the course of the pandemic.

"But we are confident that teacher-assessed grades are the fairest way to award results in these challenging times,” they said.

“We have published objectivity guidance to help teachers counter unconscious bias and exam boards will soon be publishing further guidance for teachers. We expect teachers to use multiple sources of evidence to arrive at a grade, and to use their professional judgment.”

A DfE spokepserson said “fairness” has been placed at the heart of this year’s plans and the department trusts teachers to “use their professional judgement” when determining grades for students, who are only being assessed on what they have been taught.

“Schools, colleges and exam boards will undertake internal and external checks on the consistency of teachers’ judgments, to help maximise fairness for all pupils no matter their background or where they live,” they added.

Additional reporting by Press Association