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Revealed: A levels with the biggest U-turn grades lift

Revealed: A levels with the biggest U-turn grades lift

Of the key subjects, maths got the largest rise in A* grades from Ofqual’s U-turn, which largely scrapped moderation of teacher-assessed grades

10th September 2020, 1:46pm

Catherine Lough

New data on this year’s A-level results released today reveals how much grades rose by subject level due to Ofqual’s U-turn decision to award students the highest result from either a moderated or teacher-assessed grade.

Overall, 14.3 per cent of A-level entries were awarded an A* grade following the U-turn, compared with 9 per cent when Ofqual’s standardising model was used to moderate the grades.

Here is a breakdown of many of the main subjects, showing which had the biggest percentage-point difference at A* grade between the original moderated results and the revised, largely teacher-assessed, versions:

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In maths, there was a 6.8 percentage point rise, with A*s up from 16.6 to 23.4 per cent of entries.
In Spanish, there was a 6.6 percentage point rise, at A* from 15.5 to 22.1 per cent of entries.
Physics saw a 6.5 percentage point rise at A* from 10.5 to 17 per cent of entries.
History had a 5.8 percentage point rise at A* from 6 to 11.8 per cent of entries.
Geography also had a 5.8 percentage point rise in A*s from 5.9 to 11.7 per cent of entries.
Chemistry had a 5.7 percentage point rise at A* from 8.6 to 14.3 per cent of entries.
English literature had a 5.7 percentage point rise at A* from 9.4 to 15.1 per cent of entries.
Biology had a 5.4 percentage point rise at A* from 7.6 to 13 per cent of entries.
French had a 5.2 percentage point rise at A* from 14.9 to 20.1 per cent of entries.
Psychology had a 4.6 percentage point rise at A* from 4.4 to 9 per cent of entries.
In German, the proportion of A* grades rose by 4.1 percentage points from 18.8 to 22.9 per cent of entries.
In sociology, there was a 3.8 percentage point rise in A*s from 4.6 to 8.4 per cent of entries.
In music, there was a 2.1 percentage point rise at A* from 11.5 to 13.6 per cent of entries.

The lower rises for music and German are likely to be a reflection of the fact that they had among the highest number of entries from small groups that did not have teacher-assessed grades moderated for the original set of A-level results this year.