Nearly 40 per cent of teacher-predicted A-Level grades have been revised downwards in England by an exam board moderation system described as unfair, as school leaders warned of the detrimental effect on pupils.
While there has been a 2.4 per cent rise in the awarding of Grade As, the head teachers' union said there was concern that this disguised the volatility in the results.
In England, 36 per cent of results were lowered by one grade, 3 per cent by two grades and 2 per cent were increased.
Geoff Barton, the head of the Association of School and College Leaders, said there was disgruntlement from senior teachers who felt that marks had been pulled down in an “utterly unfair and unfathomable” way.
“They worked very hard to provide accurate grades to the exam boards, carefully following all the guidance, and are dismayed that the statistical model then used to standardise these grades has had such a devastating impact,” he said.
The Covid-19 outbreak meant physical exams planned for the early summer were cancelled and A-Level grades instead have been based on an assessment by teachers. This was then moderated by the exam boards via a system that took into account the historical performance of the school, which critics said unfairly targeted pupils from poorer areas.
But Mr Baron said “that the statistical process has proved to be far too blunt an instrument and has created clear injustices”.
The government had sought to defuse the growing anger when – only two days before results were published – it announced that pupils unhappy with their moderated result would be able to challenge it based on their mock exams taken earlier this year or sit new exams in the autumn.
The Sixth Form Colleges Association said research it conducted found the government model to determine results was flawed and unreliable.
Government urged to take remedial action
Mr Barton said it was vital the government and exams regulator Ofqual reviewed the situation.
“It is not sufficient for the government to dismiss these concerns by saying that schools and colleges can attempt to battle their way through the appeals process, or that students who are not satisfied can enter the autumn exam series some seven to eight months after they finished their courses, and are no longer at the centre where they studied,” he said.
Universities also complained that they did not know how the appeals process would work, and Sir Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labour Party, said the last-minute changes caused “widespread chaos".
Much of the angst can be traced back to earlier this year when teachers were asked to predict their pupils’ grades as it became clear that physical exams would be impossible to sit.
At A-Level, the predicted grades were 12.5 per cent higher than in 2019, a figure that officials felt would undermine the credibility of the final results.
Scotland was forced to reverse its downgraded results for its national qualifications on Tuesday after dismay and protests sparked by an exam board moderation process that led to the lowering of grades for 75,000 young people.
Brief scores
Toss India, chose to bat
India 281-7 in 50 ov (Pandya 83, Dhoni 79; Coulter-Nile 3-44)
Australia 137-9 in 21 ov (Maxwell 39, Warner 25; Chahal 3-30)
India won by 26 runs on Duckworth-Lewis Method
Brief scoreline:
Liverpool 2
Keita 5', Firmino 26'
Porto 0
Match info
Uefa Champions League Group B
Barcelona v Tottenham Hotspur, midnight
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Match info
What: Fifa Club World Cup play-off
Who: Al Ain v Team Wellington
Where: Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
When: Wednesday, kick off 7.30pm
