one “explosion” of top Numbers that were awarded to students during the pandemic will be halved this year, according to an academic.
It means thousands of students may miss their best college choice, a new report by professor Alan Smithersdirector of the Center for Education and Employment Research at the University of Buckinghamsaid.
“The government has announced that the increase of 160,000 top grades during the two years of teacher assessment will be halved this year,” said Mr Smithers.
“This is a necessary first step to restore the value of the grades, but with 80,000 fewer top grades, thousands of students will miss the places they would have gotten last year.”
He added: “The hard work for these students did not end with the exams, but starts again on results day in the hunt for a college place.”
The changes come after a Covid-driven ‘experiment’ in which the numbers were set by teachers as education moved from the classroom to the home during the lockdown.
“The 2020 exams had to be cancelled, but Ofqual was confident that the grades could be calculated accurately by fitting teachers’ rankings into the grade pattern of the previous decade. It all seemed plausible and feasible, but turned out to be disastrous.
Professor Alan Smithers, University of Buckingham
“There was an explosion of top marks, a big swing at girls and a big rise in top marks in the performing arts and practicals,” he said.
“In 2022 there is actually a return to exams, but with some of the inflation of the Covid years preserved.”
He said the high numbers of 2020 and 2021 have “massively increased the demand for university places” and that competition will increase further due to a spike in the number of 18-year-olds.
“There is a good chance that competition for the sought-after places will increase. Meaningful A-Levels become even more important to ensure that places are allocated fairly.”
But a spokesperson for the Ministry of Education told the Standard it is “incorrect” to suggest that these factors have “pinched places”.
“Last year there was not a large number of deferrals compared to previous years and UK students occupy the vast majority of places on university undergraduate courses compared to international students, so it is incorrect to suggest that these factors influence the put pressure on places.
“The competition for places at the most selective universities has always been high and this year is no different – but there will always be many options for students, either at another university, through clearing or high-quality career opportunities that are just as prestigious and are rewarding as academic routes.”
A spokesperson for exam regulator Ofqual told Sky News that there is “no correlation between grades and seat offer”.
He said: “While there may be fewer top grades this year compared to 2021, when a different grading method (teacher graded grades) was used, universities generally understand what the grades will look like this year and have offers accordingly. done.”