Experts slam ‘barmy’ GCSE marks inflation as a QUARTER of pupils get top marks

EXPERTS have slammed "staggering" GCSE marks inflation as A QUARTER of pupils receive top marks.

More than one in four (25.9 per cent) GCSE entries in England scored one of the top three grades, up from just over a fifth (20.7 per cent) last year.

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Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University, described the percentages of top A-level grades as "staggering." 

He said: "The percentages of top grades are staggering, and no help at all to university admissions tutors having to take difficult decisions.

"The rank order of the subjects by grade tends to be very similar year by year, and this year the teachers have been extraordinarily generous.

"We do need exams to be able to tell who really deserves the grades."

Sam Freedman, an ex-Department for Education adviser and former head of Teach First, said some kids got “barmy” results.

He said: “There are schools where pupils who would have taken foundation tier papers — where the top possible grade is a 5 — have been awarded a 6 in the algorithm.

"It is true that unmoderated (even moderated) teacher assessment isn't a great way to assess high stakes exams but not because teachers are unprofessional or dishonest; just because you can't maintain consistency across thousands of different institutions."

Speaking about specific cases of graded inflation, he told the TES: "While this is certainly less problematic than young people missing out on places it's not great that some students will have grades higher than they could possibly have achieved and are thus eligible for courses they won't be suited for."

One head in West Yorks said a pupil assessed as grade 1 by a teacher was given a grade 8 by the algorithm — equal to moving up from a G to an A*.

It brings the number of pupils receiving a seven or above (the equivalent of at least an A) - to a record high, with thousands more meeting A-Level entry requirements than previously anticipated.

Teachers have warned that popular A-level and job courses may now be swamped by pupils with boosted grades, with some sixth forms calling for extra government funding to cope with increased demand.

Steve Chalke, head of the Oasis academy chain, told The Sun: “There’s going to be a scramble.”

James Kewin, from the Sixth Form Colleges Association, said more cash is desperately needed to create new classrooms to cope.

Teens in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were awarded the higher of either their teacher's estimated grade or a moderated grade this morning, after exams were cancelled over the summer.

According to figures from Ofqual, the subject which saw the highest proportion of top grades was classics at 74.6 per cent, followed by modern languages (excluding French, German and Spanish) and triple science (biology, chemistry and physics) at 53 per cent. 

More than three in four (76 per cent) were given at least a 4 (the equivalent of a C) - up 8.9 per cent on last year.

And not a single pupil failed GCSE economics, physics or PE.

The overall pass rate was also a record high at 99.6 per cent, up from 98.3 per cent in 2019.

It comes as...

• Btec grades pulled just hours before results day
• Celebs speak out about their rubbish GCSE grades
• A Level students who get grades CAN go to first choice uni as caps cut
• Militant teachers threatened to close schools if the coronavirus cases get too high
• Gavin Williamson 'was warned' of results fiasco
• GCSE results and grading system explained

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said those receiving their GCSE results today should feel "incredibly proud" of what they have achieved "in the face of immense challenge and uncertainty".

He said: "This is an exciting day and young people now can look forward to taking their next steps, whether that is returning to schools and colleges in September to do A-levels or our brand new T-levels, or taking one of the many other routes available like starting an apprenticeship.

"I also want to pay a special tribute to teachers and school leaders this year who have shown dedication, resilience and ingenuity to support their students to get to this moment."

Today's record GCSE results come after traditional A*- G grades in England were scrapped, with a 9-1 system making 9 the highest result.

A 4 is roughly equivalent to a C grade, while a 7 broadly equivalent to an A.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "Congratulations to everyone receiving their GCSE results today.

"I know the last few months have been tough and this isn't how you imagined you would be finishing Year 11, but you can be proud of how you helped to keep the virus under control.

"You have literally saved lives through staying at home and keeping distance from others.

"Thank you for protecting yourselves, your families and your communities this year. And once again - congratulations and well done!"

Their comments follow the government's U-turn decision to ditch A-level and GCSE grades generated by computers after thousands of A-Level results were downgraded last week.

Btec grades were not included in the original U-turn, but on Wednesday they were pulled with just hours to go until results day.

Eva Rudkin, 16, and her mum Moya were overjoyed by her results, which included grade eights in history and English language.

Asked if they had been worried, mum Moya from Doncaster, said to Eva: "Up until Monday at 4 o'clock you were not in a good state, were you?

"But, when they announced that they were ditching the algorithm and going with what they'd been told in the beginning - the mock result and teacher input - we were a lot happier then, weren't you?

"You've done brilliantly, I'm so proud."

'NOT ENOUGH SPACE'

Sixth forms are now calling for extra funding from the Government to cope with increased demand, with some heads planning to hire more teachers or ask staff to teach beyond their subjects in order to accommodate all offers made. 

Gill Burbridge, principal of Leyton Sixth Form College in east London, said honouring the offers it had made to almost 2,000 pupils would be a challenge.

She said: "It is going to maybe require staff to be more flexible in terms of being able to teach across more than one area."

James Kewin, deputy chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association, said: "We have been pressing the Government to introduce a capital expansion fund for sixth form providers over the past couple of years, and action is now needed as a matter of urgency."

Tory MP Robert Halfon, boss of the education select committee, said colleges fear they will not have enough space as more and more pupils achieve top results.

He said: “They may need extra money so they can expand places and build temporary classrooms.

“Every sinew must be strained so that every youngster can go to the college of their choice.”

Labour peer and ex-Education Secretary David Blunkett called for cash for a “Nightingale-style further education provision,” with colleges taking over offices or public buildings for extra space.

Meanwhile, David Laws, boss of the Education Policy Institute, warned the inflated grades may cause some kids to sign up to courses which are too hard for them.

The ex-schools minister said: “There is a risk that more students will switch courses or even drop out halfway through the year.

"Schools and colleges will need to cope with this uncertainty and the implications for their budgets.

"The second pressure is whether schools and colleges have the physical capacity to take on an extra group of pupils, while ensuring that they are as safe as possible given the risks related to Covid-19.”

A-LEVELS CONFIRMED

Official A-level grades were also confirmed this morning, after computer-grades were ditched in favour of teachers' assessments.

Like GCSEs, they showed a huge hike in the number of students getting As and A*s compared to the previous year.

The stats showed an all-time high in England, with 38 per cent of pupils getting top grades - up from the 27 per cent under the axed system last week.

In Wales, Qualifications Wales said the results for A-level, AS and the Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate were "substantially higher" than the results published last week or in previous years.

A spokesperson for the regulator said: "Our best estimate at this stage of revised 2020 A-level results in Wales at cumulative A* to A is 41.3 per cent, compared to 29.9 per cent when results were released on August 13 and 27 per cent in 2019."

Meanwhile the government lifted the cap on the number of university places for medicine, dentistry, veterinary science and teaching to manage the influx in students getting in.

Universities will receive extra funding to help increase capacity on a number of courses after institutions warned they had limited space for students who saw their results increase.

The University of Durham is even offering a bursary and "guaranteed college accommodation" to students who volunteer to defer a year due to capacity issues caused by the U-turn.

EXAM CHAOS

Schools Minister Nick Gibb apologised to GCSE and A-level students this morning for the "pain and the anxiety" they felt prior to this week's exam grading U-turn.

He told BBC Breakfast: "To those hundreds of thousands of young people receiving their GCSE grades and the A level students receiving recalculated grades, I will say this to them, congratulations on what you have achieved.

"But also how sorry I am for the pain, the anxiety and the uncertainty that they will have suffered as a consequence of the grading issues we encountered last week.

"And to reassure them that we are doing everything we can to put these matters right."

It is still unclear what the appeals process will be for GCSE and A-level students who are unhappy with their results.

The Shadow Secretary of state for Education slammed the government for the fiasco this morning.

Speaking to Good Morning Britain, Kate Green said: "I think it's utterly outrageous, it's chaos after chaos now.

"Our young people are psyching themselves up for their results, wanting to plan their futures and the next step in their studies and being let down again and again by the government.

"They are in the middle of an utter fiasco that’s in no way their making."

'GAVIN WAS WARNED'

Meanwhile, it was reported last night that Gavin Williamson was warned of the results debacle weeks before.

The education secretary has defied calls to resign over the debacle and is now said to be "on his last life" - with a likelihood of being sacked next month.

A senior source at the Department of Education told The Times that Sir Jon Coles, a former director-general at the Department, wrote to Williamson early last month expressing concern about Ofqual’s controversial algorithm.

In the letter, Sir Jon warned that the model being used for GCSE and A-Level grading would at best only be 75 per cent accurate - resulting in hundreds of thousands of students receiving botched grades. 

Ofqual’s own testing of the model found the accuracy of the model to be in the range of 50 to 60 per cent.