The class of 2020 are being failed yet again

Last year, after the cancellation of exams and the ensuing A Level results fiasco, which saw thousands of students downgraded by an algorithm, the Government promised this would never happen again. They asked students to put their faith in a system that had failed them once before, and guaranteed that lessons would be learnt. Yet, one year later, young people are being put in yet another impossible position by the education system.

Despite earlier assurances from the Education Secretary that exams would not be cancelled this year, teacher-assessed grades will end up deciding the fate of the class of 2020/21. That will create its own set of problems for many students. But for the 20,000 young people hoping to ‘re-sit’ their exams this year, after having their futures decided by a rogue algorithm, it has made life even more difficult.

I know this from first-hand experience. My university dreams were shattered by the A Level algorithm in 2020.