10th August 2021 14:05
By Blue Tutors
Today students across the country will receive their A Level results, and for the second year running these results have been determined by the students’ teachers and not by exams. In the midst of the pandemic last year teachers were asked to predict the grades they thought students would have achieved, after an initial scheme which used an algorithm to establish grades was scrapped.
Schools have been better prepared for the system this year, and many have increased testing during the year and used coursework to help determine students’ final grades. However, each school has had the freedom to choose their own system leading to students having very different experiences depending on the school they attend. The important thing is that schools must have evidence to justify their assessment, and head teachers have to sign off on each grade.
Love or hate an exam system, there is something more comfortable about every student sitting the same paper on the same day across the country. It just feels fairer. Understandably then, many students today will question their awarded grades.
What If You Think Your Grade Should Be Higher?
The first step is to check whether your school has made a simple mistake. Obviously this will be very rare, but admin errors happen all the time, and if your awarded grade was 2-3 grades lower than expected then do this first before panicking.
You also have the option to appeal, which your school will do for you if you ask. Evidence will be sent to the examining board and they will decide whether there are any grounds to change your grade. It is worth bearing in mind, however, that this could lead to a lower result as well, so don’t put your university place at risk if you got in!
As is always the case, if you missed out on your university choices then you can apply through UCAS’s clearing system where you’ll find many university courses with spaces. It’s always disappointing not to get into your first and second uni choices, but every university has hundreds of happy students who ended up there via the clearing route!
Finally, there has been an exception made this year, and A Level exams are being offered in October by all the examining boards. Students can sit these exams to try and improve their grade; the higher of today’s grade and the exam grade will be the one on your final record.
Of course, sitting exams in October, for which the result will be issued in December, means beginning university in September 2022. This can be frustrating if you were dead set on starting next month, but there are lots of positives to a gap year after school. When you eventually get to university you’ll find lots of people in the same position, and others jealous of your stories from the last 12 months.