Hundreds of thousands of students have now nervously opened their A-level results. These handfuls of letter grades matter, and not just to the students themselves. They have far-reaching effects on our whole education system and public views on standards in education.
Hundreds of thousands of students have now nervously opened their A-level results. These handfuls of letter grades matter, and not just to the students themselves. They have far-reaching effects on our whole education system and public views on standards in education.
The impact of changes to assessment as a result of the pandemic are still being felt. In England, assessment returned to pre-pandemic grade boundaries in 2023, and this year the number of top grades awarded has risen.
In Wales and Northern Ireland, however, this was the first year assessment returned to pre-pandemic standards. As a result, the number of top grades has fallen.
We are not “back to normal.” Those of us working in education still do not really know the impact it has and will have on learners, learning and teaching. Exam results only give us one snapshot in time—a sample of what a student knows or can do. They cannot ever consolidate and represent the entirety of educational experiences. We should expect changes in education and its outcomes, such as A-level results; to expect absolute consistency is unrealistic.
