When do A-level results come out, how will they be graded and can you collect them at school?
In a historical first, pupils across the UK will receive their national school exam results this year without having actually sat an exam and many A-Level students are set to be disappointed, after it was reported that nearly 40% of predicted grades would be downgraded.
School exams were pulled for the first time in history this year after the country was plunged into lockdown in March to curb the spread of coronavirus.
This led to teachers submitting predicted results for pupils to exam boards instead.
The ‘results’ of these predicted grades have already started to be released in Scotland – where students have received their Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA) results.
The new grading system has been widely criticised, with many slamming the SQA’s decision to ‘moderate’ results based on the historical performance of the school rather than the pupil.
Headteachers have now been warned that there could be a worse reaction than the one to the SQA’s this week, as almost 300,000 out of more than 750,000 A-level results will be lower than what teachers had submitted.
So when will A-level results be released in the UK – and what methodology is being used to score them?
When is A-level results day?
Students across the UK will get their A-level results on the originally planned date of Thursday August 13.
Pupils awaiting A-level results in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should all receive their results on this date but students should check directly with their educational establishment to check this is still the case.
How can you pick up your A-level results?
As things currently stand, students will be able to pick up their results from their school or college any time after 6am on results day, which is when they are released by the exam board.
However, this will vary from place to place, so you’ll need to find out the exact opening times and restrictions of your place of study.
How are A-level results graded this year?
A-level results will be graded based on the anticipated grade of a student as well as their classwork, homework, mock assignments, and exams.
Schools and colleges were asked to send the exam board two pieces of information for each subject: the grade they believe each student would get if teaching had taken place, and an ordered list of students within each subject, based on their anticipated grade.
The latter piece of information aims to standardise judgments.
In a letter to students, Sally Collier Chief Regulator, Ofqual said: ‘Your school or college will consider a range of things like your classwork and homework, your results in assignments and any mock exams, any non-exam assessment or coursework you might have done, and your general progress during your course.
‘This information will allow us, with exam boards, to standardise grades across schools and colleges, to make sure that, as far as possible, results are fair and that students are not advantaged or disadvantaged because their schools or colleges are more generous or harsh than others when making those judgements.
‘That means the final grade you get could be different from the one your school or college sends to the exam board.’
MORE: Why pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds will suffer most after cancelled GCSE and a-level exams
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