Some of Britain’s top private schools have been accused of ‘manipulating the system’ by inflating their pupils’ marks during the Covid crisis.
Children last sat public exams in 2019, nine months before Britain locked down, and since then, many schools have recorded ‘ginormous’ increases in their top grades.
Research by The Sunday Times reveals a number of independent institutions – like North London Collegiate School – at least doubled the proportion of A*s handed out to their A-level students last year compared with 2019.
At the girls’ school in Edgware, where fees can reach more than £21,000 a year, the proportion of A*s soared from 33.8% in 2019 to 90.2% last summer – the highest recorded increase.
In 2021, when students were awarded teacher-assessed grades, rather than exams, 39.5% of those in private schools had A*s, compared to 16.1% in 2019.
Pupils at state schools could have lost out on places at leading universities as a result, Robert Halfon warned.
The Tory chairman of the Education Committee told the Times: ‘Private schools should not be baking ginormous rock cakes of grade inflation into the system and manipulating the system so that these teenagers can go to some of the top universities.
‘The education secretary and the independent exams regulator Ofqual should be investigating to understand why this rise in A* A-level grades occurred at these schools and whether there was manipulation of the system.
‘If manipulation has taken place, then far from creating a level playing field, yet another ditch has been created for state school pupils to fall into.’
According to the study, there was also grade inflation at state schools but the scale was considerably smaller.
Just two state institutions make the top 50 list ranking schools with the biggest hikes in A*s.
At Eltham College, an independent school for boys in southeast London, A* grades rose from 29.1% to 72.2%.
Headmaster Guy Sanderson said his school’s A-level success last year was ‘a reflection of the hard work of our bright students who prepared well for exams and assessments in difficult, regularly changing circumstances, and our highly capable and committed staff body who adapted seamlessly to a robust online teaching programme through the pandemic’.
The extent of the problem could be even greater as some leading schools like Eton College have not published detailed 2021 exam results.
This comes as the government is expected to confirm next week if students will finally sit traditional GCSE and A-Level exams in the summer.
Last month, education secretary Nadhim Zahawi insisted booster jabs would allow them to be sat in person.
He told Sky News: ‘We are going further and working with Ofqual to say “we do want to go back to pre-Covid grading and the robustness of the grading system” but we are going to do it in two steps.
‘We are going to go to the medium between the teacher assessment and the pre-Covid for this summer, and then we will go to pre-Covid grading the year after.’
While it is believed this will put a stop to grade inflation, many argue public exams are unfair as some students have missed more classes than others as a result of Covid-19.
The shocking findings have prompted calls by MPs for an inquiry into England’s exam system during the pandemic and why grade inflation was allowed to go unchecked by regulators.
An Ofqual spokesperson confirmed all school types awarded higher A-level grades last year, than they did in 2020 – not just private institutions.
As a result, all heads submitted a formal declaration on the accuracy and integrity of grades and processes supporting them.
They added: ‘This is in our analysis that was published last August.
‘We also made it clear then that an overall increase in grades would be most likely to benefit students attending independent schools at the top grades.
‘This year, with the return of exams, we are taking steps to return to pre-pandemic grades.
‘With exams, all students will be assessed, and their work will be marked and graded, in the same way.
‘There will still be a safety net for students sitting exams this summer, but overall grades will not be as high as they were last year.’
Metro.co.uk has contacted the North London Collegiate School and Eltham College for comment.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Get your need-to-know
latest news, feel-good stories, analysis and more
Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our Twitter, & Facebook
We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.
For all the latest Covid-19 News Click Here
