TEST ING T IMES
THIS SUMMER, STUDENTS WILL BE GIVEN TOPICS TO FOCUS ON
has been a very different story. Top grades haven’t just risen slightly, but exploded. This summer, exams will be different. Students will be given topics to focus on, while grade boundaries are set somewhere between 2021 and pre-pandemic levels – reducing, though not entirely removing, grade inflation. It’s not perfect, and for parents trying to work out how much importance to place on exam results, it’s incredibly confusing. Inevitably, some schools’ GCSE and A-level results have risen hugely since 2019. In normal times, you’d expect exam grades to show a degree of consistency. Factors like a new, ambitious head teacher, a particularly able cohort, or the introduction of an exam syllabus can result – over time – in changes to grades, whether up or down. While noticeable, however, the dips and rises are gentle, rather than eye-watering. The best solution is probably to ignore the past few years and see how a school was doing in 2019. While it won’t tell you everything, it will be a more accurate reflection of academic success than either 2020, 2021 or quite possibly 2022. In reality, 2023 could be the moment when, for the first time in four years, parents finally see how schools are really doing. It should be well worth the wait.
CAMBR IDGE EDUCAT ION GUIDE 21
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