This Education Policy Institute consultation follows the announcement in January from the government that exams will not go ahead as usual this year, and grades will be based on teacher assessment. EPI concludes that while the government is proposing the “least bad” option for grading students without the usual public examinations, there are still significant risks associated with its approach.
The report says that given that learning loss has been large and unequal, and that grading cannot now take place with public examinations, there is a serious issue about whether the usual grades can be safely awarded in 2021.
The absence of the usual public exams this year, combined with attempts in some way to mitigate for some learning loss, means quite simply that grading this year cannot achieve the degree of consistency and accuracy that it does in a "normal" year.
The three principal risks that EPI has identified are:
- A risk that real student learning losses in 2020/21 will be masked by the process of “centre assessed” (teacher) grading, leading students to progress into further study or work without the skills and knowledge they need.
- A risk of inconsistency and unfairness of grading between different schools and colleges, and between students
- A risk of further, significant, grade inflation in 2021, which might undermine the credibility of grading.
To mitigate these risks, EPI proposes five major changes to the government’s proposals.