Grade inflation and leading independent schools in London and beyond

Grade inflation produced by independent schools were much much higher than state schools.

The original Sunday Times article here has a handy table - www.thetimes.co.uk/article/private-schools-gamed-covid-rules-to-give-their-pupils-more-top-a-levels-6z0z6w9r5

The schools are sorted by grade inflation observed between 2019 and 2022 A level results (measured as a percentage of A* grades)

The largest inflaters are predominantly independent schools, starting with North London Collegiate School (NLCS) with 56.4% increase in percentage of A* grades

The first state school making an appearence in that list of shame is Tiffin School in position 19 (inflation 35.1%)

In fact among the top 50 inflaters, there are only two state schools.

It's quite shameful what the independent schools did last year, and they suffer absolutely no consequence for it. Quite the opposite, it's probably good for business.

The issue for many independent schools revolved around the evidence that pupils were able to give for the final grades - TAG or CAG. Most schools realised they had to have robust data to base grades upon. So most schools ran "high control" (JCQ standard) assessments - essentially mock exam weeks with more jeopardy! Given there were no new exam questions available for two years, it didn't take much for pupils to make sure they were bets prepared for their assessments. Additionally, no school could ignore results from these exams as they would readily be appealed against by pupils/students. The result was that the pupils produced the evidence and the schools had to give the grades. To pin the blame on any cynical manipulation by schools, fails to understand the process that went on to generate the TAGs/CAGs. It also resulted in a great deal of stress for pupils, and rigour in the process from staff.

But we know how they will compare - they will go down. It has already been announced that the grade distractions are to move back to 2019 over the next two years.

It will be interesting to see how the results compare over the next few years at these schools and generally.

@puffyisgood I agree but (although slightly tangential to the thread) I would caveat it with the point that I do think interviewing for med school places is important . Medicine is a vocational degree and 18 year olds are effectively being recruited into their future profession. The interview component is important for medics as it does not focus on academic suitability (already proved by this stage) but rather gauges whether candidates have the right personality characteristics to make a good doctor. This is probably more important than just being academic enough to cope with a Medicine degree.

@opoponax - yes, it's hugely relevant that almost all university assessment is by timed final exam.

It's why i've always been against the interviewing that Oxbridge does. It to me harks back to a time when a PhD style 'viva'/oral test might have been a key part of assessment at undergraduate level. Performance at interview can't possibly rival performance at [public, school] written exam as a predictor of future performance at university level written exam.

Grade inflation was not done only by private schools. State schools did similar, hence the massive increase in grades overall

I think you're right.

Which is why this year's A level students are so royally screwed over.

Those with higher grades from the previous year, plus no real hope by taking a gap year as then they compete with those with better grades in subsequent years (as they will have had less covid disruption in the two years of sixth form)

@jeanne16 it would seem that there were some schools benefiting disproportionately from the situation within both sectors. Purely anecdotal but I have heard of a local school (state comp) that was handing out GCSE level 9s like sweeties last year and another (not very selective indie) who took a holistic view of the process , using unproctored tests sat at home during lockdown as the main basis of their TAG assessments. Meanwhile, many other schools in both sectors were trying their best to be as rigorous and fair as possible. And let's not forget the ridiculous pressure on the poor teachers to make some sense of the situation. It is not a simple picture. @puffyisgood, I agree about exams being the least bad method of assessment for the 18+. Of course, there is always the risk of an off day and that's a shame but at least in normal times public exams offer an objective and transparent assessment process. And they prepare DC for the inevitable pressure of University exams. Regarding your comment about top courses and Universities, it is interesting that this year Oxford Medicine have allegedly discounted 2020 GCSEs in their interview selection process due to their unreliability and this has increased the weighting of the BMAT (clinical entrance exam) results.

overall I do believe that: (a) of all the damage wrought by Covid on our economy and society, screwing up a couple of years' worth of exam results is by no means the greatest; and (b) exams remain by a distance the least bad method of assessment for the 18+.

I'm not sure about the state/private split, but the overall proportion of kids getting three A's (i read 6%) was pathetic, totally invalidating A levels as a measure of suitability for the very top courses and universities. If those grades were to be sustained then Oxbridge, maybe some e.g. medical schools too, would need to ditch A levels and rely entirely (not partly) on something else, now that would* play into the hands of the private schools, because whatever this "something else" was, it obviously wouldn't be a priority for the state schools to anything like the same extent as private.

Grade inflation was not done only by private schools. State schools did similar, hence the massive increase in grades overall.

A friend’s DD got all 4s and 5s in her GCSEs but was awarded 3 A grades in her A levels last year. She was at a good London State school. She had previously been expecting C and D grades.

I do have a child in Y13. I don't see how contextualisation is relevant to your point in the usual context (ha!) in which it is used and I may never find out but I think I can live with that.

Not a dig about having wider interest in the issue. I do care beyond my own children and it's nothing to do with virtue signalling or criticising any one type of school. It's different standards across schools irrespective of sector that's the key issue. I'm assuming that you do actually understand contextualisation if you have a child in Y13 but if you don't I suggest you ask someone else to explain it to you as I don't wish to engage any further.

Speaking of naivety, do you really think that parents won't care if future cohorts' A level results are 'contextualised" against significantly higher achievements in previous years

Can you explain this. Contextualised by whom and for what purpose and why I should be scared?

Sorry about your dcs not shining as brightly as they could but we all move on, yes? Nice dig about your having wider interests than your dcs. Do polish that halo.

And again, before passing comment @blueshoes. if you had actually read what I wrote, that is precisely the situation my DS was in. He would have got A stars in a normal year and his A stars didn't mean that much last year. But that's life and he's on to the next stage of education now. No personal axes to grind here as my DC are absolutely fine. However, my interest is thankfully far wider than my own children.

@blueshoes your reply was "If I paid school fees, I would want a little grade inflation myself for my dcs. People get it".Hopefully that is not representative of how most parents do think.

If you had actually read my comments you would see that I said there were aberrations across the board and not specific to one sector. I said that the danger of just looking at % change of sectors as a whole was masking the real issue of the outliers irrespective of the sector.

Speaking of naivety, do you really think that parents won't care if future cohorts' A level results are 'contextualised" against significantly higher achievements in previous years?

From my experience, Every 'uplift' grade had written papers behind it, taken under assessed conditions, moderated for double marking and triple marked for any diffs of opinion. Massive s/sheets of every score a pupil ever got across 2 yrs , with lots of statistics for year group , meeting with HOD to discuss every pupil. Folders with assessed work in for every pupil in case of work scrutiny. Could go on. Process was robust inc focus to keep numbers realistic Vly

Not read Times rebuttal stuff- maybe they said similar. -
My conclusion:

1. Never worked so hard as in Spring / Summer term 2021

1. Exams are a poor system that do not get the best out of, or for our young people. The grades seem in 2021 were a truer reflection of ability as judged by professionals. Other years with exams have deflated the true figures.

opoponax: My DC got very top grades in their schools and furthermore, they actually earned them.

So nice to hear more than once about the top grades your dcs are getting, having 'earned' them in old money.

The truth is, and I have always felt it, is that the students who are most disadvantaged by grade inflation are precisely the top students who would have got the As. They are no longer able to distinguish themselves in a sea of As.

In the immortal words of Syndrome in The Incredibles, "if everyone is a Super, then no one is a Super".

Yesterday, thanks for toting up the scores but that is not London day schools across the board.

@bendmeoverbackwards I am only too aware of the pressure DC put on themselves within high achieving schools to hit their top grades. My own DS would have been furious with himself if he had not hit A stars in all his A Levels, despite not needing all A stars for Medical School. But the point I am making is that the tangibility of the results is to open the door to the University course they want and anything above that, although valid, is self-fulfilment.

@blueshoes was the Head of the school you are talking about punchy enough to go public on their A level results too ? I think your statement "If I paid school fees, I would want a little grade inflation myself for my dcs. People get it" is really quite shocking. Basically what you are saying is that it is quite justifiable to be buying grade advantage. I would not want my children to be part of any school with that ethos (if indeed it does exist).

My DC got very top grades in their schools and furthermore, they actually earned them.

There's already a bit of a trend towards "contextualizing" state school pupils' grades---I guess this trend is likely to continue and universities may be a bit cynical about a "private school A" as a result.