To be fair to goodbyestrsnger, I don’t think she’s arguing that schools ^^should be “protecting” Oxbridge grades.
She is simply saying the system is not perfect and teachers are human beings.
The whole concept of ranking every child in a subject is obviously imperfect as it is. Some degree of subjectivity has to creep in.
The only way to avoid teacher subjectivity is to have them all sit the same exam. Then its a score - simple as that.
Without exams, difficult decisions will have to be made. I think all teachers will want to give all students the benefit of the doubt, as far as possible. Why wouldn’t they?
If I can give the example of the school my DC is at (currently year 12) .... It’s a selective independent. Quite a few go to Oxbridge every year, but they don’t make a massive hoo haa out if it, nor do they publish Oxbridge numbers in the “leavers’ destinations” section on the website (well, no more than any other uni). They know full well, that courses vary widely - that getting into Oxbridge to study say, Classics or MFL, is probably less competitive than many, many courses at other unis. For instance, my DC is applying to Cambridge which requires A*AA, but then so does Exeter. Most medical degrees are a whole other ball game as well. So at this school, even though it’s very high in the Independent School league tables, they are just as likely to highlight someone who managed to get into RADA, or St Martins School of Art, or Manchester to study Aerospace Engineering, or Economics at LSE - or whatever - than someone who is doing History at Oxford.
However..., the fact remains that getting into Oxbridge is a different process. The UCAS form has to be done by the end of Sept. There is a supplementary personal statement (Cambs). There are the aptitude tests in the Autumn term. And of course the interviews. It’s not just a case of sending the UCAS form off and wait and see.
At a talk about Oxbridge applications last term, the Oxbridge Admissions teacher basically told them all (and parents) that if you don’t have at least two A* in your predicted grades, the school probably won’t support your application to Oxbridge. This is because, their data shows, that students who don’t have these predicted grades are usually not successful.
So in other words, the school sifts students out before they apply. Those who do apply, tend to get in.
So, how likely is it really that this school would, at the end of last summer, have predicted two A*s or more for a group of students; guided them with their personal statements and UCAS forms; watched them succeed in the aptitude tests and interviews and get those conditional offers.... Only to turn round in the May and say, “Oh no actually, well done and all that, but we’ve now changed our minds and we’re going to give you an A after all.”
Really? It would make a mockery of their whole assessment process, because if they didn’t think the students were easily capable of the grades, they shouldn’t have put them through the process in the first place.
So there is a difference potentially here. It’s not about should or shouldn’t. It’s just being realistic maybe?