The student taking the fight to the government over the "unfair" A-level algorithm
14 August 2020, 07:55
The student leading the protests against the A-level algorithm
A-level Student Curtis Parfitt-Ford has told LBC he is taking the fight to the government over the controversial algorithm.
Ofqual's algorithm saw almost 40% of marks downgraded to avoid what they describe as grade inflation caused by the teachers' predictions.
Yesterday, LBC was inundated with calls from students who have seen their marks slump up to as much as six grades, putting their university places at risk.
Mr Parfitt-Ford has started a petition, which has already gathered over 115,000 signatures, demanding a fairer system.
This includes:
- No “marking down” of individual pupils based purely on them having gone to a less good school.
-A free appeals system open to any pupil.
- More weight given to our own teachers’ assessments, as they are better placed than an algorithm to judge us as individuals.
Speaking to Nick Ferrari, he said he couldn't bear to see his friends and schoolmates being so unfairly treated.
He said: "I'm personally pleased with my grades, but I've had hundreds of people contacting me - and even people from my school - who definitely are not as a consequence of this algorithm, not as a consequence that they deserved it.
"I spoke to somebody on results day, who I've known my entire High School life who was predicted to get a high-part of an A, but ended up getting a low part of the C band as a result of the algorithm. There is no clear reason for that.
"It does seem to be pretty much random whether somebody got the grades they deserved or not."
Hear his full interview at the top of the page.
