A-level grades ‘vital’ as unprepared students quit university

Students whose A-level results were graded by their teachers during the pandemic are dropping out of university in record numbers, with “close to 30 per cent” quitting some degree courses.
The data comes before A-level results on Thursday. It will be the first year since 2019 that children receive “normal” grades, which are expected to show the biggest-ever year-on-year fall in top marks.
Writing exclusively in The Sunday Times, Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, said that teenagers receiving their A-level results must brace themselves for lower grades than last year because universities need to be able to properly distinguish between candidates.
She said: “During the pandemic, results were higher because of the way grades were assessed — now grades will be lower than last year and more similar to 2019. Pupils and parents might wonder why.
“It is vital that qualifications hold value so that universities and employers understand the distinction between grades when recruiting, and pupils get the opportunities they deserve.”
About 75,000 fewer A* and A grades are expected to be awarded in England this year compared with last summer, according to an analysis of official data. An estimated one in five teenagers will miss their first choice of university offer.
It is thought that many teenagers, who were awarded generous A-level grades during the Covid-19 crisis when exams were cancelled and teachers awarded grades, have struggled to cope at university.
At one private school, the proportion of A* results rose from 33.8 per cent in 2019 to 90.2 per cent in 2021.
Many teenagers went to universities doing courses for which they would not have been accepted to study if their grades had not been so generously awarded by their teachers. Strikes by lecturers, online teaching and the social isolation caused by Covid-19 have not helped, causing disruption to their education and overall university experience.
In a letter to the Northern Powerhouse Partnership last week, Dr Jo Saxton, chief regulator at Ofqual, the exams watchdog, said she “has a duty to make sure that [examination] grades reflect what students know, understand and can do”.
A source said: “Data shows that close to 30 per cent of young people are dropping out of [some] university courses in the two years of the pandemic grading. It is not in young people’s interests to have grading arrangements that do not appropriately support their progression.” When grades are not “an accurate reflection of what students know and can do, they do not help their students with their next steps”, the source insisted.
The Student Loans Company’s data shows that more than 32,600 students have withdrawn their loans in the last academic year, up from 22,652 at the start of the pandemic.
A record 2.1 per cent of student loans have been withdrawn in the academic year up to May — an early signal of students dropping out of their courses.
On eight business and management courses, which are now being monitored by the regulator, dropout rates were as high as 40 per cent. Across the country a record 11 per cent of full-time undergraduates and 35 per cent of part-time students who started their degree courses in 2020-21 dropped out.
Vernon Sutherland dropped out of his French and linguistics course at Oxford and is saddled with £18,000 in debt
Vernon Sutherland dropped out of his French and linguistics course at Oxford and is saddled with £18,000 in debt
VICKI COUCHMAN FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES
Vernon Sutherland, from east London, was delighted when he was offered a place to read French and linguistics at Oxford University in October 2020. His teachers awarded him AAB, which was just below the offer made to him by Oxford, but he was still allowed to go. Within two years, Sutherland had dropped out of his course after failing a French grammar exam. Saddled with £18,000 of student loan debt for tuition fees and with no degree certificate to show for his efforts, he felt disappointed, frustrated and depressed.
“It does bother me that I paid that money and I didn’t get a degree,” said Sutherland, who is preparing to start a degree at a European university.
“I am a little bit worried about the cost of those two years, where I, in essence, got nothing. I didn’t get a certificate. I don’t have a qualification I can put down on a CV. I have nothing to show for it”. Oxford has one of the lowest student dropout rates in the UK.
Lord Baker of Dorking, the Conservative peer and former education secretary, described every case of someone dropping out of university as an individual tragedy.
“The loan system is broken. These debts have become enormous and they will follow students for the rest of their lives,” he said.
Ellen Townsend, professor of psychology at the University of Nottingham, said there were many reasons why students dropped out of university, such as the cost of living and mental health problems.
However, she said that “A-level grade inflation has something to do with the picture . . . They may get on to a course that they are not really suited to”.
Henri Murison, of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, to whom Saxton wrote, said: “If there is an argument being made that we need to keep UK students out of universities because they are not university-ready then we should spend more in helping children catch up on the learning they lost in the pandemic.”
The Office for Students, the university regulator, should have been doing more to make sure that dropout rates did not rise further, he said.
The regulator has the power to fine universities where dropout rates are too high. None has been fined to date.
Additional reporting by Anvee Bhutani
Coronavirus
Related articles
Thursday will hurt for many, but A-levels need to be reset
THE SUNDAY TIMES VIEW
Thursday will hurt for many, but A-levels need to be reset
August 13 2023, 12.01am
BACK TO TOP

Get in touch
About us
Contact us
Help
The Times Editorial Complaints
The Sunday Times Editorial Complaints
Place an announcement
Classified advertising
Display advertising
The Times corrections
The Sunday Times corrections
Careers
More from The Times and The Sunday Times
The Times e-paper
The Sunday Times e-paper
The Sunday Times Wine Club
Times Print Gallery
The Times Archive
Times Crossword Club
Sunday Times Driving
Times+
The Sunday Times Rich List
Times Expert Traveller
Good University Guide
Schools Guide
Newsletters
Best Places to Live
Best Places to Stay
Times Appointments
Podcasts
Times Money Mentor
Times Luxury
Sportswomen of the Year Awards
Best Places to Work
Puzzles
© Times Media Limited 2023.
Registered in England No. 894646. Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, SE1 9GF.
Privacy & cookie policy
Licensing
Site map
Topics
Authors
Commissioning terms
Terms and conditions

0%
 
10%
 
20%
 
30%
 
40%
 
50%
 
60%
 
70%
 
80%
 
90%
 
100%