Boris Johnson Backs England Exam Results Amid Student Anger
- Algorithm used to assign grades due to virus disrupting exams
- Government already under fire over pandemic plans for schools
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended his government’s handling of this year’s pandemic-hit school exam scores in England, after swathes of students’ grades were downgraded by an algorithm in what the opposition Labour Party described as a “fiasco.”
With pupils unable to sit tests due to the coronavirus, teachers gave an estimate which was then adjusted by exam boards. According to the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation, 39% were downgraded by the algorithm, which also took into account students’ past test scores and -- controversially -- results achieved by past cohorts at their schools.