Exam Grading Debacle Caused By Government’s Decision Not Algorithm -Former Ofqual Head

The former head of England’s exam regulator has said that last year’s grading fiasco was caused by “human-decision making” rather than a controversial algorithm.

According to Roger Taylor, who led Ofqual through the first set of exam cancellations due to the coronavirus fiasco, the problem was not with the algorithm itself but rather “what we were trying to do with it.”

Thousands of A-level results were downgraded last year under the original grading system set up in the absence of exams, which saw an algorithm used to moderate teacher-predicted grades.

Following backlash after A-level results day, a government turn around allowed students to take their initial grades estimated by teachers.

Taylor, who stepped down as Ofqual chair towards the end of last year, said the government’s initial plan for grading “did not work” in a new report offering a personal reflection on what went wrong last year.

He said “by blaming the algorithm, we risk missing the most important lessons on mistakes that were made.”

The algorithm used in exam moderation last year has faced heavy criticism, with student protesters holding signs condemning it after moderated results came out last year.

After exams were cancelled this year due to the disruption to education caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the government has said no algorithm will be used in determining grades.

The former exam regulator head said no-one thought algorithmically moderated grades would be uncontroversial, adding there that was “widespread unease about the chances” of the system working.

He said relatively few people saw obviously wrong grades but that the “much wider sense of injustice” comes from how the majority of students were affected by moderation using the algorithm, which was by having one or more of their results reduced by one grade.

He said this problem was known from the outset, with Ofqual raising it publicly on two occasions and explaining how lowering grades moderation through moderation could see many with lower than they would have got in an exam, and others with higher.

Before stepping down as chair at the end of last year, Taylor told the education select committee that Ofqual had warned that the algorithm was the worst-case scenario for determining grades.

However, a Department for Education spokesperson said: “All decisions taken on assessments in 2020 were based on delivering the fairest outcome for students. At all times the department worked closely with Ofqual to find solutions that would allow young people to progress to the next stage of their education or career.”