“It is a fundamental mistake” to think that the exam algorithm is “acceptable”, – Chairman of Ofqual told MPs | Politics news

It was a “fundamental mistake” to believe that the controversial algorithm originally used to assess A-level and GCSE scores “will ever be acceptable to the public,” the head of the exam control service said.

Roger Taylor, chairman of Ofqual, launched a comprehensive defense of the body’s role in the exam fiasco while addressing MPs.

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He told the special committee on education that the body advised the government not to cancel exams this summer due to coronavirus pandemic.

Ofqual invited Education Secretary Gavin Williamson to conduct them “socially distanced” due to COVID-19– added Mr. Taylor.

Mr Taylor told MPs that the situation is “rapidly spiraling out of control” and Mr Williamson is pushing policies that “are not in line with our legal responsibilities.”

The education minister has resisted calls to resign over the scandal, but told Sky News last month that he is “incredibly sorry for the suffering” the students have suffered.

He said that until the day he received the A-level results, he was “absolutely sure” that the algorithm would not punish students from disadvantaged families.

But the next weekend, when he said it “became clear there were anomalies,” the government turned around and went back to using predicted teacher grades for A-levels and GCSEs.

When the results were published, it turned out that in England almost 40% of the A-level grades were lowered.

The system also proved to be beneficial for private schools, where the highest grades almost doubled compared to public schools.

Boris Johnson was accused of “a shameless attempt to avoid responsibility” for the fiasco after he blamed the “mutant” algorithm.

The prime minister has previously defended the system, calling the grades given to students “reliable” and “reliable”.