algorithm - does anyone know what this is?

Also, the "centre-assessed grades" are not just whatever the teachers conjured up in their imaginations as likely results for their students. They had to backed up by reference to each student's results in earlier course work and exams, balanced against previous result patterns from previous years' students, those patterns compared against national averages. All this was done during the weeks after it became clear that there would be no exams. The powers that be changed their minds several times about exactly what would data, personal, local and national, was to be in the calculations, so it all had to be calculated again. Then at the last minute they changed it yet again.

If anyone else tells me that teachers, heads of departments, headteachers, admin and IT staff- the whole teaching establishment - have been sitting on their backsides for months on full pay eating chocolates and watching daytime TV they may regret it.

I'm starting to understand now.thanks all.
Is it something to do with the Normal Curve as well?
A statistical artefact like IQ?

Yes, there would have been some slight grade inflation.

The universities could have coped with that as it does happen anyway.

Apparently, if someone in a school had one U grade (ungraded - that is, failed) in last year's exams,the person with the lowest estimated pass mark this year would get a U even if it was a reasonable mark.

Fennel

I'm starting to understand now.thanks all.
Is it something to do with the Normal Curve as well?
A statistical artefact like IQ?

Grade boundaries are manipulated every year, so that the actual grades awarded fit a certain distribution curve, so the grades Ofqual hoped to see this year should have fitted that curve. They didn't because they were skewed to the top end. Therefore, the decision was made to downgrade some results to fit that curve nationally.

The way that was done was based on historic grades of individual schools and colleges, but there were flaws, particularly at the top and bottom end and the algorithm didn't take into account high achieving students in schools/colleges which had historically achieved low grades.

Teachers had to rank candidates in strict order, which meant somebody had to be at the bottom. If the school/college had in the past three years had just one candidate with a U, the person at the bottom had to be awarded a U.

There was also an anomaly caused because small sixth forms had their Centre Assessed Grades (maybe inflated) accepted without question, which benefited small schools, mainly private schools. Once these candidates had taken up the grades at the top of the curve, the rest had to be downgraded to preserve the normal distribution curve nationally.

Hope that makes sense!

Elegran

Apparently, if someone in a school had one U grade (ungraded - that is, failed) in last year's exams,the person with the lowest estimated pass mark this year would get a U even if it was a reasonable mark.

Exactly!