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Calculated grades system risks ‘inaccuracy and bias’
against disadvantaged groups
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Exam regulator must act to ensure level-playing field
for all
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Appeals process must not be just for the ‘well-heeled
and sharp-elbowed’
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Extend catch-up funding for disadvantaged post-16
pupils
Pupils could miss out on the exam results they deserve this
summer as the system for awarding and moderating grades is at
risk of inaccuracy and bias against young people from
disadvantaged backgrounds, MPs say.
The Education Committee’s report acknowledges the swift response
of the exam regulator Ofqual and the Government in rising to the
immense challenge of devising alternative arrangements for
awarding grades after the cancellation of national exams due to
the coronavirus pandemic. Teachers have also done their very best
in exceptional circumstances to provide grades for their pupils.
The report finds however that this year’s system raises three
significant concerns.
1. Fairness:
a) Bias - The Committee received numerous submissions on the
potential for unconscious bias to affect calculated
grades1, outlining how particular groups, including
pupils from low-income backgrounds, black, Asian and minority
ethnic (BAME) pupils, and pupils with special educational needs
and disabilities (SEND), could be adversely affected.
b) Ofqual’s standardisation2 model aims to
adjust grades to ensure they are broadly in line with previous
years. However, there are concerns about the risks of using
historic data, which might not be fair for newer schools, or for
improving and turnaround schools which are on an upward
trajectory.
c) The appeals system favours the ‘well-heeled and sharp-elbowed’
who know how to navigate the system. The criteria of bias and
discrimination set out by Ofqual will be incredibly hard for
individual students to ascertain and to prove. After pressure
from the Committee, Ofqual have agreed to a helpline but this
does not go far enough to level the playing field.
Pupils with SEND, or their families, must be able to see the
evidence used to calculate their grade. If the right access
arrangements were not in place for the work used or if evidence
from SEND specialists was not used if appropriate, the pupil
should be able to appeal on the basis of malpractice or
maladministration.
2. Lack of support for students sitting autumn
exams:
The Committee is pleased that dates for the autumn exam series
were confirmed on Thursday 9th June, as called
for in the report. The Department for Education must now set out
how students will be supported with teaching ahead of sitting
these exams.
3. Catch-up funding unavailable for post-16 pupils:
The pandemic’s impact on learning loss does not stop when
pupils turn 16. Post-16 learners, whether they are resitting key
English and Maths GCSEs, or preparing to sit final exams before
entering higher education or the workplace, deserve proper
catch-up support. The Government must extend catch-up
funding to include disadvantaged post-16 pupils to ensure this is
not a lost generation.
Rt Hon , Chair of the Education
Committee, said: “The cross-party committee
recognises the enormous work clearly undertaken by the Department
for Education and Ofqual during the coronavirus pandemic and
accepts that no system developed for awarding grades will be
perfect.
However, we have serious worries about the fairness of the
model developed by Ofqual. There is a risk it will lead to unfair
bias and discrimination against already disadvantaged groups and
we are far from convinced that the appeal system, which will be
more important than ever this year, will be fair. The appeals
process seems to favour the well-heeled and sharp-elbowed and
there is the potential for the system to resemble
the Wild West of appeals with different systems used by different
exam boards.
The lack of guaranteed support from the DfE for pupils and
students doing autumn exams means there isn’t a level playing
field for those students. The absence of a post 16 catch up fund
exacerbates these problems.
We urge Ofqual to be fully transparent about their
standardisation model and develop a state-of-the-art appeals
system that is genuinely fair to all students whatever their
background. There is still hope that all young people will get
what they’ve earnt but Ofqual and the Government must act now so
this generation can go on to flourish in their future work and
education.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
1. See p7 of report
2. Standardisation draws on multiple evidence sources
to determine whether calculated grades are more severe or
generous than expected. As a result of standardisation,
calculated grades may be adjusted, so that the grades pupils
ultimately receive may be different to the centre-assessed grades
submitted by schools and college.
3. A full list of submissions to the inquiry is
available on p23. A transcript of the oral evidence session with
Ofqual and others is available here.
