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Ofqual insists 'no evidence of systemic bias' as NUS president calls A Level marking system 'racist and classist'

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The president of the National Union of Students (NUS) has launched a petition against the downgrading of school-leavers' A-level results and accused the Government's system of being "racist and classist".

Larissa Kennedy made the comments, vehemently rejected by exam regulator Ofqual, on Twitter, writing: “Congrats to those getting results today.

“Due to a classist, racist moderation system, not everyone will receive the grades they deserve.”

The petition, launched by NUS UK on Thursday morning, claims the Department for Education's "triple lock" system amounted to “educational inequality" and was based on a "ridiculous algorithm" which unfairly prejudices students from less advantaged backgrounds.

Ms Kennedy added: "The postcode lottery moderation system is classist and racist. It has disproportionately downgraded the most marginalised students this #AlevelResults Day."

The student representative's comments came as it emerged that the largest reduction in the proportion of students awarded A-level grades of C and above after moderation was recorded within those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

But Ofqual has insisted that the system is not racist, and said that it is "difficult to draw firm conclusions" over the relationship between deprivation and grade adjustment.

Dr Michelle Meadows, executive director for strategy, risk and research at Ofqual, said on Thursday that there is "no evidence of systematic bias" in the moderation system.

She said that research literature covering A-level predictions for university entrants shows that "there is a tendency to be more generous to students from lower socio-economic status", adding: "Outcomes for different groups, whether that be by socio-economic status, ethnicity, gender, the outcomes for these groups are very similar to those in previous years.

"There is a small effect of a greater difference between the end calculated grades and the centre assessment grades."

The students' petition is demanding that the Government award final-year pupils in England the grades their teachers predicted, with no moderation, and implement an appeals process that allows "all students to combat any instances of racist, classist or other discrimination".

It reads: "It's a question of priorities and the Government have put statistics before students. The fallout from the coronavirus pandemic is already disadvantaging young people massively – don’t let an unjust algorithm make this worse. If anything, this year's students deserve a leg up rather than marking down."

The petition has been backed by other student leaders around the country.

A-level students did not sit exams this summer (PA)
A-level students did not sit exams this summer (PA)

Megan Ball, the president of Winchester University student union, wrote on Twitter: "A students postcode, school/college or historical data does not define their success. Stop instilling injustice & inequality in the education system. I’m supporting this campaign from @nusuk – give them the grades they deserve!"

The NUS president said: "England must follow Scotland's lead and scrap moderated grades, moving to give all students their teacher-assessed grades.

"We must look at what this will mean for individual students without such action, many of whom will miss out on opportunities to attend the university of their choice because of this process.

"For three per cent of students to have had their results downgraded by two grades means that there will be thousands of students receiving results that are no reflection of their true ability."

The Department for Education announced its "triple lock" system as a "safety net" for A-level grading after this year's summer exams were cancelled due to Covid-19.

The system has seen about two in five pupils around the country receive A-level results downgraded from their teachers' predictions after the system's standardisation process, which is moderated by an algorithm. The algorithm takes into account factors including the past performance of a school.

Schools across the country were open to only pupils of key workers for months before the holidays (PA)
Schools across the country were open to only pupils of key workers for months before the holidays (PA)

The Government has said the aim of the system is to make sure results are broadly in line with results from previous years and to make sure the results have the same value as those from previous years. Education minister Nick Gibb has said that without the algorithm results were likely to have seen a grade inflation of 12 per cent.

Some students have dropped two or three grades below what their teacher predicted.

Exam boards downgraded 39.1 per cent of pupils' grades in England, according to data from Ofqual – which amounts to about 280,000 entries being adjusted down after moderation.

In England, a total of 35.6 per cent of grades were adjusted down by one grade, 3.3 per cent were brought down by two grades and 0.2 per cent came down by three grades, figures from Ofqual show.

In Scotland a similar system was scrapped after accusations of unfairness, and students were given the grades teachers originally predicted.

Schools will be able to lodge appeals on behalf of students in England. Appeals will be lodged either on the basis of results from mock exams, taken earlier this year before the pandemic, or exams taken in the autumn.

Schools can also lodge appeals on behalf of students if they can show that grades are lower than expected because the school has changed in some way and therefore previous cohorts are no longer representative of this year’s students.

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