The Department for Education knew as early as July 2020 that exam grades for pupils whose teaching was disrupted by the pandemic would be unfair, a senior civil servant told the Covid Inquiry.
In her written evidence, Helen MacNamara, the former deputy cabinet secretary, said she “could not believe” that a week after a row in Scotland over exam results, the same problem happened in England.
There was a furious backlash from parents, schools and pupils in August 2020 after nearly 40 per cent of grades awarded were lower than teachers’ predictions
All exams were cancelled because of lockdown and an algorithm was used to determine grades.
Results were later revised after Ofqual and Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, said grades would be awarded using unmoderated predictions from teachers. This then led to a 10 percentage point increase in top grades at A-levels and thousands securing university places.
A week before the A-level results there had been similar issues with Higher results in Scotland where predicted grades by teachers were downgraded. The Scottish government later upgraded thousands of pupils’ results, accepting teacher estimates.
