UK exam grades

This week in the UK our school leavers have been receiving their exam results and grades. These will be with them for life. I can remember back to my own anxieties.

This year, because of Covid19 there have in fact been no exams. Grades are being awarded by methods that no matter how many professionals try to explain them, seem to belong to "the dark". Some observers are claiming that youngsters in "deprived" areas are being unfairly treated.

Here is one view that I have picked up, a lady speaking to the UK A Level students:-

"You have been robbed of your future by an algorithm. The tech dystopia many of us have been warning about is here. Your it. Your data was used to profile you without your consent. This is not OK. Be furious. Fight back."

Well, I needed to look up "algorithm" and......"a process or set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by a computer"

Anyway, any thoughts or comments?

Well, not much interest in this one. A generation of youngsters being in effect, betrayed.

Latest was an explanation given by one observer this morning, on why some youngsters were downgraded from the grades their teachers had given them based upon course work and mock exams. The reason was in certain cases that "if no child in a school got such a high grade last year, then it was unlikely any would achieve such this year."

The UK Govt still refuses to budge, unlike devolved Scotland and Northern Ireland.

A further point. Obviously those attending fee paying and private schools come under another system entirely. Boris Johnson, a product of Eton, the man who heads the "party of all the people".

Meanwhile, the "unelectable" Jeremy Corbyn spends part of his time doing a shift or two at his local Foodbank, and helping out with other volunteers at the Islington Peace Gardens. A "cheap photo opportunity"? Well, no longer leader of the Opposition, what has he really got to gain?

Latest from the BBC


The Govt "might shift this afternoon" is the very latest.

I've not been ignoring this one, I've just been so angry and upset by the whole fiasco that I can't trust myself not to completely explode over the issue.

I'm doing my best to restrain myself on this now. I know what I want to say, but am holding back.

I think the person you mentioned in the OP got it completely right. An entire generation has had their future decided by an algorithm. The only question here, is: Who wrote the algorithm?"

For the life of me though, I can't imagine what the government - a government that only ever thinks of itself and its own narrow, party interests - thinks it had to gain out of this..? They wouldn't do anything without some sort of vested interest. They'd cheerfully screw a generation of young people if there was the slightest political or financial gain to be had and yet, there doesn't seem to be any cash reward anywhere, and this is only going to be bad for them politically. I can only conclude that it really is sheer incompetence that is driving this thing.

Gavin Williamson should have stepped in sooner. He should have gotten a grip as this issue began to unfold when The Guardian wrote its article on 7 August. He didn't. He did nothing. Neglect of duty at its worst.

Remarking on some of your other comments, I too remember the stress of waiting for A Level results. It begins the moment you hand your paper in and it doesn't let up until you finally see your grades.

For better or worse, I knew that my grades would have been the outcome of how I performed. If my grades were bad, I'd have suffered, but it would have been down to me. I could have accepted that. We all could.

There were a few tears on results day, but mostly they were tears of relief. Mine were. I blubbed and I don't mind saying so. I had two university places on offer, awaiting my grades. I could have gone to Cambridge or Portsmouth. I had the grades for both, but I chose Portsmouth because it was the course that suited my aims best. Besides that, my parents had already spent a fortune on my private schooling and I figured I wouldn't burden them further.

Yes, I had a private education, Dookie. Shock, horror...!! The good old Girls Day School Trust's Minerva Programme. I was lucky to have parents well off enough to afford it and I'm forever grateful for that.

Some say independent education is a bad thing. OK, I can get that. Hey, my sisters went to the local comp because they grew up when family wasn't so well off. I benefited from being the 'late arrival' in the family. They never resented or envied it. It was what it was.

But state school or independent, every student is suffering the same today. There is no class or wealth divide in this.

The Scots have reinstated their exam grades after initially downgrading them for more than 120'000 students. John Swinney looks likely to be forced to resign in a no-confidence vote in the Scottish Parliament. His record isn't good. I think he should save the Scottish Parliament the trouble and just go.

London..? Typically, while the fate of hundreds of thousands of students hangs in the balance, Boris Johnson has buggered off on holiday. Bloody hell, that bloke gets more time off than Stephen Hawking's football boots.

The most obscene thing about all of it is that it was becoming clear that it was going to be those from disadvantaged backgrounds and / or poor families who were going to suffer the worst grades. Not because of any action by the teachers and heads who made their assessments, but because they were the ones who were getting their revised assessments overruled, probably for political reasons. The Association of Head Teachers went barmy over it, and rightly so.

And whoever came up with the ridiculous idea of using mock exams to assess final grades had to be off their chump. Anybody who knows the first thing about mock exams would know they couldn't possibly be any sort of indicator for final grades.

The government has now been forced into (yet another) humiliating U-turn and will revert to teacher assessed grades. Typically, Gavin Williamson, probably the worst Education Secretary this country has ever had, has blamed Ofqual for the whole sorry mess.

So.... Johnson has gone absent from duty and the Ed Sec starts the blame game.

So typically Tory you couldn't make it up.

Yes, I'm angry about it and would like to have said more, but I'm probably not far from a ban from this site as it is...

Where was dear old Boris Johnson during this fiasco I hear no one ask. Well, he waded in immediately the initial results were announced. Here we have his words:-

"Let's be in no doubt about it, the exam results we have today are robust, they are good, they are dependable for employers."

Well at least, now over a week later, when as predicted by various bodies prior to the whole mess, we know that the results were brittle, bad, and totally undependable for employers. The Govt has U-Turned, scrapped them, and done what they were advised to do beforehand.

To his credit, Boris has simply meandered off to his country retreat. Unlike the Donald, he makes no attempt to claim "false news", or that he was "misreported", or that he was merely cracking a joke.

(I'm undecided as to whether this actually shows greater contempt for the electorate, or less)

Here we don’t have anything like that of course, as anyone can go to college and get whatever degree they want as long as they are able. Yes, we have the SAT but that is just one slice of a myriad of factors universities consider in admission.

As for grade and secondary schooling, we have standardized tests each year, but they are just for FYI purposes for parents and are mostly used for accountability purposes on the teacher/administration side. But even with those, there is a beginning shift now away from it with the COVID home schooling opening eyes that there is no such thing as a one size fits all method of instruction and assessment.

Standard education here comes in three distinct stages:

Primary: Age 4 (infants or 'Reception' ) to age 6 then basic schooling to age 11

Secondary: Age 11 - 16 to GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education). You can leave school after GCSE and take up employment. GCSE's show an employer that you have a good, working standard of education that you can base a career on. I achieved 13 GCSE's with 11 Grade A's (I only got B's in Art and Religious Instruction. No surprises there. lol)

Sixth Form (Don't ask): Age 16 - 18. A Level (Advanced) Students study subjects they specifically choose to an advanced level as preparation for Apprenticeship or University.

You can leave school after A Levels, but generally, you're considered to be wasting a major opportunity if you don't then go on to higher education. Employers will usually want to know why a student has left after A Levels instead of going on to HE.

Higher Education (University): Before A Level final exams, students examine the opportunities available and apply to a first choice and second choice university. They will usually get an offer of a place dependent on their A Level grades. My first choice was Portsmouth, my second choice was Newnham College, Cambridge. While Cambridge was more prestigious, Portsmouth offered the course I actually wanted. Newnham offered a similar course but not exactly what I wanted.

And here is the nub of the problem that we've experienced.

Obtaining the place you want at the university of your choice depends hugely on A Level grades.

Again.. take my example: I required an A in Chemistry and Biology, and a B in Maths for the course I wanted. I got them all so no problem.

But for students this year.........

The Dept of Education, headed by Gavin Williamson, and it's quango, OFQUAL had to find a way of assessing student grades in an exam year affected by the Coronavirus lockdown. Students couldn't take their final exams and therefore there were no exam grades for universities to use to decide who to accept.

OFQUAL came up with this ridiculous algorithm for assessing students based on their performance over their two years of study. They quickly realised it wouldn't work. It was unfit for purpose. However, they pressed ahead with it with full government knowledge, on the basis that there wasn't enough time to recalculate the algorithm.

The Association of Head Teachers (AHT) argued that the algorithm should be scrapped and teacher based assessments used instead.

Gavin Williamson didn't like that because he believed that teachers wouldn't be severe enough in assessing students.... that students would be marked "softly" and it would "dilute" the standard of student going to university. He ordered OFQUAL to carry on with the algorithm.

AHT said that the algorithm was so bad that it would unfairly mark students down and destroy any chance that many of them would have of getting any university place at all.

Gavin Williamson ignored this and told OFQUAL to use the algorithm.

As predicted, A Level results were horrific. Students who were expecting to get A and B grades were being marked down to D, which is as good (or bad) as a fail. Futures were being destroyed. The fate of thousands of students were being wrecked by an algorithm that everybody had known well in advance was utterly useless.

Gavin Williamson, the Education Secretary blamed OFQUAL for the whole fiasco and allowed teacher assessments to replace the results awarded by the algorithm. In short, he did a huge U turn and then claimed he wasn't to blame for anything.

But that isn't the end of the story.

Many students, realising their grades were going to be downgraded, rejected their first choice university and accepted their second choice on the basis that it required lower grades.

Now, with their grades restored, some are trying to get their first choice place back. Nobody knows how they can do this..... nobody know IF they can do it. The universities and their admissions system for this Autumn are in chaos

No advice is coming from Gavin Williamson or OFQUAL.

It is a mess of monumental proportions. And the government is washing its hands of it, while claiming to be not to blame for anything.

Latest:-

The head of England's exams regulator, Sally Collier, has quit after thousands of students' marks were downgraded for exams they were unable to sit.

Ofqual chief Ms Collier has been under fire for a controversial algorithm which changed GCSE and A-level marks, making them unfair, according to heads.

It also led to many A-level students losing university places they had been offered, and a crunch on degree places.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson thanked her for her commitment.

He added: "Moving forward, my department will continue to work closely with Ofqual's leadership to deliver fair results and exams for young people."

Virtually unbelievable that Gavin Williamson remains as Education Secretary and actually speaks of moving forward........(towards) "fair results and exams for young people."

In fact, disgraceful that he has not resigned.

You may recall earlier this month I wrote of the "Rise of the Obsequiocracy".

Here is a prime example of lickspittle subservience to the leader making the empty vessel untouchable regardless of whatever depth of incompetence he plumbs.

But the reverse side of that coin is that the leader must show loyalty to the acolyte too.

Gavin Williamson is loyal acolyte of Boris Johnson. Johnson knows this. For that reason, Johnson will not sack Williamson. Williamson knows that.
Williamson will not resign.

We all remember the days when, if an MP, let alone a leader, was found to have lied to the House, he would resign or be sacked.

Last year, Johnson lied to the Queen, FFS.... and still walked away from it with his job intact.

Gavin Williamson will continue in post until such times as he makes an error that affects the leader in some way, or he becomes some sort of threat politically, or he commits an act of disloyalty. Those are the only three occasions the will cause Gavin Williamson to be sacked.

His unsuitability to hold public office, on the grounds of being incompetent at his job is immaterial to the leader. It is his unswerving obedience that Johnson wants. Nothing more. And certainly, nothing less.

The latest from the blustering baffoon Boris Johnson, a school visit where he declared:-

"I’m afraid your grades were almost derailed by a mutant algorithm, and I know how stressful that must have been for pupils up and down the country.”

Ha ha.." a mutant algorithm".....good one Boris.


HIS Governments algorithm. Applied despite warnings from several reputable educational bodies. An algorithm that produced grades of which Boris Johnson declared on the day of issue:-

"Let's be in no doubt about it, the exam results we have today are robust, they are good, they are dependable for employers."

Now, a "mutant algorithm" is to blame. From where did it arise? From what strange laboratory? Whatever, not Boris's fault.

From the Byline Times:-


"Like an algorithm, Johnson does not simply act at random. He does not ‘go rogue’. The algorithm works like any computer game: it performs the functions someone has programmed for it. It may seem out of control, but it is in fact doing exactly what it has set out to do.

Of course, Johnson did not take ownership of the exam results debacle. Of course, he blamed a disembodied computer glitch instead of a deliberate and conscious piece of policy-making supervised directly by him. Just as love means never having to say you’re sorry, Johnson’s self-love means never having to take responsibility. Everything is the fault of someone or something else: voters, foreigners or computers."