OFqual (the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation) serves as the regulatory body for qualifications, exams, and assessments in the UK. As students were not able to sit their exams in 2020, OFqual designed an algorithm to predict the grades of students. Predicted grades were determined through the evaluation of various data, including teacher assessments, coursework, mock exams, and relevant information to assess students’ likely performance in traditional exams. These predicted grades were then used to award qualifications to students. In August 2020, Ofqual’s algorithm played a significant role in calculating 82% of ‘A level’ grades. The algorithm was responsible for assigning more than 4.6 million GCSEs, which accounted for approximately 97% of the total (Elgot & Adams, 2020). Although teacher rankings were considered, the algorithm did not take into account, the teacher-assessed grades submitted by schools and colleges (Thompson, Gulson, Swist, & Witzenberger, 2023).
However, the algorithm predicted grades for some students that were far lower than expected, especially amongst schools with a higher percentage of black and minority ethnic (BAME) students. In the face of protests, the algorithm was eventually scrapped (Gulson, Benn, Kitto, Knight, & Swist, 2021).
