A-Level results will be published next week, on 18 August, and there may a few surprises in store.
The first thing to note is that grades will be lower than in 2020 or 2021. This is because Ofqual plans to deflate gradesto bring them back towards pre-pandemic levels (Ofqual’s remit covers England only, but similar plans are in places for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales). Ofqual plans to do this in two steps, one this year and one next. This means that grades will be higher than in a normal year but lower than in 2020 or 2021.
It is unclear exactly how this will work. One interpretation of the information provided by Ofqual is that examiners of each subject for each exam board will begin by setting grade boundaries halfway between where they were in 2019 and 2021 and then adjust them up or down depending on the quality of work submitted in that subject. If this is right, then Ofqual have a range in mind for the proportion of students achieving each grade in each subject, even if they do not have a specific quota.
