U-turn on A-level grades leaves university admissions in disarray

Well most Uni managers will be happy to pack them in as it will save their jobs and bonuses. They will not care if it causes some academics extra stress...cash is king at too many UK Universities and the hit to foreign students numbers will mean most managers will regard this as an excellent outcome although they will not say this publicly.

These are difficult times and we all need to make compromises. The Government have made a major compromise, others must now adapt. The now rejected algorithm was not a "mistake" when the decision to use it was made in order to be "fair" to past students and institutions, as a way to "deflate" teachers' over optimism on grades for their individual students this year (which has happened every year to date) and usually ended up being balanced out by actual exam results, alongside a need to cap the total number of places. Political factors changed, loud protests from this year's exam takers and their families and teachers have silenced the fairness to former students and removed the cap on places. The late change of policy, which now puts this years individual students centre stage is far from perfect and while allowing more people to go to University in total it may not be, in the case of a specific individual, to the course or university of their first preference (unless they agree to wait a year). Universiites are unlikely to rescind places to those given the original grades they needed on the first round of grade allocations or to build extra capacity in one year for the resulting excess demand provided by the second round of grades this year. Social distance excuse makers must forgive me for dismissing their feeble comments. With on line learning / blended learning, I know of NO UNIVERSITY that is likely to take in fewer students this year than last because of the 1 / 2 metre rule.

I want to see that dratted 'algorithm' - without understanding it, how can anyone say how unfair it is? However, it appears to have been aiming at a goal of 'statistical fairness' - achieving an average and spread roughly comparable to previous years - rather that trying to treat individual students fairly. That's not good enough and it's no surprise that those students who have been disadvantaged are grumbling. (I have been answering Clearing calls so have heard my share of sob stories... as well as one Mom literally whooping with joy in the background when I was able to offer her son a place!) Perhaps those Oxford colleges who said they'd take everyone they'd made a conditional offer to irrespective of the grades the algorithm had given them had the right idea. Maybe we in universities were wrong to put any faith in OfQual meddling...