Unconscious bias in marking could be contributing to the underperformance of children from poorer backgrounds, researchers have suggested.
Teachers were more harsh in their grading of students from a lower socioeconomic background, a study from the University of Sussex appeared to show.
Those behind the study insisted it was not an “attack on teachers”, but rather should be used “as a mandate for educational institutions to better support teachers” with training to mitigate potential biases.
The findings, based on an experiment with 416 teachers, found a grading difference of 4.4 percentage points being awarded to those of higher and lower socioeconomic status.
