When the UK government announced the cancellation of exams to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, there was a collective intake of breath from parents and a giant exhalation from students. These yearly trials usually dominate the beginning of summer for British families with school-age children, who are tested to within an inch of their lives. A-levels – taken at 18 in three or four subjects following a two-year course of study – determine whether and where a pupil can go to university.
Most kids were pretty hopeful when exams were cancelled (shocking, right?). Prime Minister Boris Johnson had promised that this year’s students wouldn’t be worse off. He pledged to "make sure that pupils get the qualifications they need and deserve for their academic career.” An algorithm would input previous exam grades, teacher references, student rankings in each subject and the school’s historic performance to award grades that would be "fair and robust”.
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