Like in many countries hit by COVID-19, A-level exams in Britain in April, May and June had to be abandoned because of the pandemic. A-levels (General Certificate of Education Advanced Level) are key school-leaving exams for 18-year-olds.
So where do the grades come from? Teachers were asked instead to make an assessment of their students’ grades, which were then modified based on a school’s past performance. According to England’s exam regulator, the moderation is a process intended to avoid widespread grade inflation.
The publication of A-level results two weeks ago sparked outrage when it emerged that 39 percent of teachers’ assessments had been downgraded under an algorithm based on a school’s past performance.
Photo: EPA-EFE 照片：歐新社
Students took to the streets and threatened legal action, complaining that the system made it harder for bright children in disadvantaged areas to do well, while rewarding mediocre students in private schools.
More than 250,000 people had also signed a petition demanding a change, and two legal groups representing students threatened to take the government to court.
The director of one of them, Good Law Project’s Jolyon Maugham, said students had missed out on places at university, medical school and employer training, which all rely on final A-level grades. “It’s also affecting those students who are leaving school to enter the jobs market, the most difficult jobs market in the UK for many generations.”
After protests by students and warnings that it threatened the career prospects of the most disadvantaged students, the British government was forced last Monday to abandon its policy for grading exams, and said that it would accept at face value assessments made by teachers in lieu of high school exams.
(AFP with staff writer)
如同許多遭武漢肺炎（新型冠狀病毒病，COVID-19）疫情重創的國家，英國不得不取消四、五、六月的A-level聯合大會考。A-level（普通教育高級證書）考試為十八歲學生關鍵的畢業考。
那成績要怎麼來？改由教師為學生評定分數，再由考試主辦單位根據該校過去之成績對此分數進行調整。英格蘭的考試監管機構表示，此調整是為了避免教師給分普遍過高的情況。
兩週前A-level成績公布，點燃了怒火，因為有百分之三十九的學生收到的成績單，其分數低於教師原本之評分。此成績演算法所依據的是該生所屬學校之歷年學生成績。
學生們走上街頭，威脅要採取法律行動，控訴這種成績演算法讓貧困地區的聰明孩子更難出頭，卻讓貴族學校中的平庸學生得到好處。
也有超過二十五萬人簽署了一份請願書，要求對此做出改變，兩個代表學生的法律團體還揚言要把政府告上法庭。
其中一個法律團體「Good Law Project」之負責人喬林‧莫恩表示，學生錯過了大學、醫學院及雇主培訓的機會，這些都須仰賴A-level考試總成績。「這也影響到那些要離開學校進入就業市場的學生，英國的就業市場正面臨好幾世代以來最嚴峻之景況」。
迫於學生之抗議，以及最弱勢學生之就業機會恐受威脅，英國政府上週一宣布中止該成績調整政策，並表示將原封不動接受替代高中考試的教師評分。
（台北時報林俐凱編譯）
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