The 2020/21 academic year saw 44.8 per cent of candidates achieve A* or A grades in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the highest on record.
This year was the second in succession that replacement results were calculated after the cancellation of exams during the Covid-19 pandemic. The previous 2019/20 academic year saw 38.5 per cent of candidates achieve top grades.
Since conventional examinations were last sat by students, the number of candidates achieving top grades has risen by almost 75 per cent, meaning that there is huge pressure on admissions at the best universities with record numbers of applicants and top grades.
UCAS reported on Tuesday that a record 396,000 students had been accepted onto their first-choice course for the next academic year, an increase of eight per cent on one year ago.
According to the Russell Group of leading universities, the sharp rise in top grades is meaning that some courses are unable to accept students who narrowly missed out on hitting their target grades, whereas in previous years they may have had the leeway to do so.
Inga Neaves, who heads academic career planning, guardianship, and holistic tutoring provider Scion Mastery, believes that students profiting from the most prestigious institutions being able to take on a larger cohort then ever must seize on their opportunity, while future generations of A-Level students should not be lulled into expecting the same treatment when they approach university application time.
Issuing a rallying call to students, Neaves said: “The pandemic and calculated grades turmoil gave a place at the most prestigious UK universities to a bigger number of students than ever before. It’s a great chance that needs to be used wisely.
“However, if you want to get a degree from one of the best universities in the world, you need to choose a better strategy than hoping for a temporary easing of admission procedures in future. What you need is a high-quality career plan that embraces both the current situation and your long-term prospects. Students that have managed to keep their minds right, not losing control in the times of global turbulence, will be the champions of tomorrow.”
Of course, the idea has developed among some that the manner of awarding this year will devalue grades and prompt institutions and employers to not deem them to be meaningful. However, Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders [ASCL] has refuted that suggestion, saying it would be akin to “comparing apples with oranges” if one were to measure up these results against previous years where conventional exams were sat.
Ofqual interim chief regulator Simon Lebus added that students had been “fairly treated” and teachers’ academic judgements were considered trustworthy.
“We have always said that outcomes this year were likely to be different”, Lebus said.
Paul Whiteman, chief of the National Association of Head Teachers, was another who dismissed any suggestions that grades were inflated, referring to the unprecedented circumstances the education sector found itself operating under compared to other years where exams could go ahead.
Officials from exam boards explained that grades were higher this year because of the removal of the element of doubt over exams, in that no one pupil could have a “bad day” in an exam and each student was given “multiple chances” to showcase their abilities.
Evidence used to predict grades included a range of “mini-exams”, mock exams and coursework. A fifth of schools then had a sample of their grades examined by exam boards to ensure reasonable judgement.
15 per cent of grades submitted by schools and colleges were queried during this process, with just one per cent eventually being changed.
Watch below: Ofqual interim chief regulator Simon Lebus discusses 2020/21 grade awarding system on The Leaders Council podcast.
