Grant 2023 A Level grading allowances in England similar to Wales/Scotland/NI

Please support this Change.Org petition regarding 2023 A level grade boundaries in England. Grade boundaries will be decided soon and there is not much time left . Please spread the word around regarding this petition.

https://chng.it/FP2BF84HK5

We want the Department for Education to work with Ofqual to ensure that students in England are graded after the 2023 A-Level exams with the same allowances provided to students in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland in order to compensate for the disruption caused by Covid-19.

A-Level students who sat their exams in 2023 had gaps in learning for their chosen subjects as face-to-face classes were disrupted due to the lockdowns during their GCSE years. Many students also missed online classes due to Covid. Latest government data reveals how approximately a third of schools in England have not yet used catch-up funding that is aimed at helping pupils recover lost learning. This indicates that the attempt to bridge the gaps in learning have not yet reached everyone.
Ofqual confirmed that the 2023 grading approach includes allowances for the impact of disruption, so that a student who would have achieved a particular grade pre-pandemic is just as likely to in 2023. This implies that the number of students achieving various grades in England would be similar to 2019. However, this is different from the allowances provided to students in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Pupils who sat their A-level exams in England in 2023 face tougher grading than their peers in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

In Wales, grades will continue to be awarded more generously than before the pandemic, midway between the 2019 and 2022 results. The Scottish Qualification Authority said that its grading would be sensitive due to the continuing impact of the pandemic. Scotland's exams body has said that changes to the way pupils were assessed during the pandemic will continue this year. Northern Ireland’s exam board has confirmed that the impact of Covid-19 will be taken into account in this year’s grading, expecting to be back to pre-pandemic standards only by Summer 2024.

This disparity across the UK between students in England and the rest of the UK is unfair. This would result in students in England missing their 2023 university offers at a higher rate when compared to students in the other devolved nations. It is important to note that, as home students, all are competing for the same university places in the UK.

This petition appeals to remove this unfairness and disparity for the students of England by giving them the same grading allowances in 2023 as students in the other devolved nations. This entails more generous grade boundaries, where grades should be awarded midway between the 2019 and 2022 results. Ultimately, this ensures that all students in the UK impacted by the pandemic have an equal chance to access higher education.'

Looks like this petition did not get much votes yet; May be A level students are enjoying their well deserved summer vacation not thinking about the results day.

We tried our best to publicise this post, but failed. My friends posted this on Mumsnet. TSR even made this a sticky post in the A-level forum (thank you, TSR). I believe the students were too busy enjoying the summer to take notice. My friend had written to Ofqual, a local MP. Nothing came out of it. They just used some standard response without addressing the issue (not surprising).

My kid lost the Oxbridge conditional offer on results day; the grade boundaries of the subject that resulted in losing the offer were even higher than 2019. We have accepted the result and have moved on.

OK. Well done for trying before the results came out. It passed me by. I had not fully appreciated the impact different boundaries would have on my daughter's results, as we thought she was guaranteed to get 3A*s no matter what the boundaries were. Results day and the ridiculous boundaries - maths 30 points higher than any year on record, was a complete shock, more so when we realised the massive difference in grade boundaries, which had previously been downplayed by the press. I had expected 1 or 2 two points difference, not 15 - 20 points difference in boundaries We have been fire fighting and recovering over the last few weeks but it has gradually infuriated me to the point of wanting to take the government to task over this. Grades should be awarded on merit, not on geography or nationality. I will still fight for this. I feel that this is a legitimate legal case with substantial repercussions both short term and long term, with material loss for all students affected.

At least I know whom I am not voting for in the next election! The education minister said students "shouldn't be disappointed" if their results were not what they had hoped for as no one would care in 10 years time (after being responsible for setting the strategy different from other devolved nations). Totally insulting comment considering how life paths and destinations changed based on the results.