Closed petition Reverse all exam grades back to teacher’s own predictions
Revert final exam grades back to teacher’s predictions instead of forcing students to keep the standardised ones which exam boards have unfairly given based on the postcode in which a student lives. This will benefit students greatly and put many minds at ease in these already stressful times.
More details
Final grades have been determined on the area in which a student resides, meaning many have been downgraded unfairly, even in this stressful situation. Standardisation of results has been prioritised over students’ true performance standard, which teachers have a good knowledge of. It is outrageous that final grades have been altered to fit the area over a student's true capability, which could have a huge impact on the emotional state of many.
This petition is closed All petitions run for 6 months
Government responded
This response was given on 4 September 2020
Students in England have now received the higher of their centre assessment grade or calculated grade for GCSEs, AS and A levels in 2020.
Read the response in full
Following an announcement on 17 August, the great majority of GCSE, A and AS level students have now received the centre assessment grades that their schools and colleges had submitted for them. In the minority of cases where the grades that the exam boards had previously calculated for students were higher than the centre assessment grade, students have received their calculated grade.
Ofqual had consulted on and implemented a standardisation process for exam results this summer, but the system resulted in too many inconsistent and unfair outcomes for A and AS level students. It became clear that the approach resulted in too many anomalies to be resolved through appeals and which severely undermined confidence in the system.
Subsequently, Ofqual decided to award centre assessment grades, which are the grades which schools and colleges assessed students were most likely to have achieved had exams gone ahead. The Government supported this decision, which was deemed to be the fairest approach to avoid some students receiving grades that did not reflect their prior performance.
We understand this situation has caused a great deal of stress and uncertainty and apologise for the distress this has caused young people and their parents.
Department for Education
Related activity
Petitions Committee calls on Government to urgently respond to petitions relating to student grades
The Chair of the Petitions Committee, Catherine McKinnell MP, has written to the Secretary of State for Education Gavin Williamson MP, to request urgent responses to this petition and another on student grading, which between them have received over 180,000 signatures.
In the letter, Mrs McKinnell urges the Government to set out the actions they are taking in response to the concerns expressed by petitioners.
Read the full letter from the Petitions Committee here: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/2271/documents/21583/default/