The unprecedented A-level and GCSE scores raise challenging questions about how to measure future student cohorts
This week’s GCSE and A-level results confirmed the expectations of many who study education policy: the proportion of students achieving top grades has increased substantially compared to 2019, especially at A-level. Students should be extremely proud of their results, which were achieved under very difficult circumstances. Likewise, teachers have worked hard to make the best assessment they can of their pupils’ performance. But there is no getting around the fact that these results are different – and not directly comparable – with pre-Covid results.
It is right to allow for the fact that students taking GCSEs and A-levels this year and last are at a disadvantage compared with previous cohorts. In-person exams would have been next to impossible in 2020, and those assessed this year have missed significant amounts of schooling.
