A level students have been failed again

The world was turned upside down in 2020. Schools closed, shops shut, and planes were grounded as the global health crisis hit the world. The great institutions of our society seemed to crumble under the pressure of the pandemic. This was particularly the case for the UK’s education system, which is still failing students 18 months on.

This morning, students will be receiving their A level grades, after a year of learning interrupted by constant lockdowns. I can sympathise with students this year – I experienced first-hand the devastation caused by last year’s A level algorithm fiasco.

After the algorithm gave me a B, E and U, I was rejected by both my first and second choice universities. While the government did U-turn a week later and switched to teacher assessed grades for some students, it was too late for me and thousands of other young people who saw their hard work dashed by what an algorithm thought we ‘ought’ to achieve.