GCSEs 2021: ‘We need to keep an eye on grade inflation’

Ofqual chair says there will “have to be a distribution of grades” in results this year and warns “we can’t give everyone an A”

14th May 2021, 11:56am

Catherine Lough

Ofqual chair Ian Bauckham has said today that the regulator will need to “keep an eye” on the distribution of GCSE and A level grades this year to check on grade inflation, as “obviously we can’t give everybody an A*”.

Mr Bauckham told BBC Radio 4‘s Today programme that Ofqual’s quality assurance process would ensure schools were following grading guidance, while schools would also be basing judgements on “evidence” to ensure grades are “a fair reflection of ability.”

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He added: “That evidence will need to vary from school to school because the pandemic has hit schools and individual pupils in different ways. So we do have to delegate to schools some decision making about that”.

Asked whether, in the case of high grade inflation after the exam boards carried out their quality assurance processes, Ofqual would downgrade grades seen as too high, Mr Bauckham said the regulator would need to “keep an eye” on the grade distribution,

“I don’t think that we’re in the same situation as last year at all. This year’s system has been built on the basis of teacher judgments and what we’re all prioritising this year is making sure that we get students grades which are felt by and large to be a fair reflection of their ability so that they can move on to the next stage,” he said.

“I mean obviously we can’t give everybody an A* because if you give everybody an A*, not only do people end up in destinations that are not right for them, also very quickly everybody understands that the grade is without value. So there does have to be a distribution of grades, and we do need to keep an eye on that.”

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Schools and colleges have been asked to consider historical grading data to sense check their results as part of their internal quality assurance process, and the exam boards will also check if results are out of line with expectations based on past performance as part of the external quality assurance process. However, we do not expect that there will be any further measures over the distribution of grades.”