2023 A-level students must pay price to save exam credibility

Tens of thousands of students are set to miss out on top grades when A-level results come out on Thursday as tougher marking systems are brought in to counteract grade inflation during the pandemic.

Ofqual, the exams watchdog for England, has said that it will impose tougher grade boundaries this year after 45 per cent of all A-level grades were either an A or an A* in 2021, up from 33 per cent in 2019.

To bring grades back to pre-pandemic levels, experts at the University of Buckingham claim that 59,000 fewer A*s and 36,000 fewer As will need to be awarded this year.

The study predicts that the proportion of A* grades will fall from 14.6 per cent in 2022 to 10 per cent this year, while As will fall from 36.4 per cent to 27.5 per cent.

It means that students getting their results in 2023 are in effect suffering because of the high grades awarded during the pandemic, when student results were based on teacher predictions rather than exams and coursework.

The Government has insisted it needs to ensure the grading system is fair and gives universities and employers the best indication of an individual’s ability.

A Government source told i: “Ministers’ main concerns are about returning grading back to normal and ensuring that qualifications retain their value, and that students are just as likely to achieve particular grades as they would have been before the pandemic.”

Writing in The Sunday Times, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said she wanted to bring “fairness” back to the system and urged teenagers to consider alternatives to university such as apprenticeships.

“This is about fairness, and making sure we have a system that treats pupils fairly compared with previous years, and equally whatever background they come from, school they attend, or part of the country the grow up in,” she said.

Ms Keegan added that it was “vital that qualifications hold value” to make it easier for universities and employers when recruiting.

She also insisted that there would be a “small amount of protection built in” to the grading system if it appeared educational outcomes were still being impacted by the pandemic.

Those finishing school this year have faced the triple impact of an education disrupted by the pandemic and teacher strike action, as well as the changes to grading.

Ofqual has stated, however, that it will make no special allowances for pupils whose teaching was affected by eight days of industrial action in 2023.

A source close to Ofqual told i last week that students have been told to brace for slightly harsher grade boundaries this year, and that it is in pupils’ interests for top marks to be rewarded to those that most deserve them.