The May/June 2015 A level examination results released on 11th August, 2015 have no doubt been graded incorrectly in the thousands. Many children faced unexpected outcomes of their hard work and in turn lost places at universities abd faces sharp criticism from families.

We have reason to doubt UCLES and their marking as Ofqual* – often referred to as the exam "watchdog" – claimed that the exam boards “lacked understanding” of marking, and students and teachers are being urged to challenge grades if they feel pupils have been awarded the wrong marks. Ofqual put OCR (Oxford, Cambridge and RSA) under stress for not delivering results on time last year, so in turn OCR responded by doing so. However this has brought the reliability of those results into question. Worryingly, evidence has shown that exam boards are “guesstimating” grades rather than actually marking them – because why not, it’s only kids’ futures they’re dealing with here. (Telegraph)**

"OCR (Oxford, Cambridge and RSA) switched all of its exam marking over to electronic formats last year, with papers scanned, viewed and marked on screen using dedicated software. But in June, during what should have been a peak period of marking, the system stopped working for two weeks, throwing OCR’s timetable into disarray". (Guardian)***.

So once again being even shorter on time and having millions of exams to check it isn't too far off to claim that the board is responsible for massive grading inconsistencies. OCR's sister board CIE is also believed to have done the same as many children received in consistent results - for e.g how can a child receiving an A in Law, who has a fair grasp on the English Language, get an E in General Paper which is half credit and mostly English and Maths?
Then we have children scoring A* in their mocks for specific subjects, just a month before finals, getting Ds and Es. Unbelievable.

This has not only lead to students being "unhappy" but has brought their entire future into question. Pupils on conditional admissions may lose their place in their chosen universities - disrupting a significant amount of planning and effort. So if you are a victim to this --> SIGN THIS PETITION so that we can let the UCLES know that we are aware of the mess they've made and we want justice!

References:

* https://www.gov.uk/government/ organisations/ofqual

** http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ education/11791625/Schools- raise-fears-over-mistakes-in- A-level-marks.html

*** http://www.theguardian.com/ education/2015/feb/23/exam- boards-a-level-results-near- miss-shortage-markers-ocr-ucas

Extra sources:

http://www.bbc.com/news/ education-29704020

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ education/universityeducation/ 11167824/Universities-told- summer-A-level-results-may-be- wrong.html