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# Decision to ditch A-Level algorithm should have been taken sooner, says Lichfield and Burntwood MP
- URL: https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/decision-to-ditch-a-level-algorithm-should-have-been-taken-sooner-says-lichfield-and-burntwood-mp/
- Published: 2020-08-18T07:47:27.000Z
- Updated: 2020-08-18T15:47:19.000Z
- Description: The decision to ditch to the controversial A-Level algorithm should have been taken sooner, Lichfield and Burntwood’s MP has said.
- Author: Lichfield Live
- Tags: Education, Politics, News

![Michael Fabricant](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e3/90/e390c3da-0866-4d2a-8ffe-ca4999d7ce1c/content/images/lichfieldlive-co-uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/img_20190524_093739.jpg)

Michael Fabricant

The decision to ditch to the controversial A-Level algorithm should have been taken sooner, Lichfield and Burntwood’s MP has said.

The Government confirmed a switch to teachers’ grading of students after more than a third saw predicted results dropped.

Conservative MP Michael Fabricant said questions needed to be asked.

> “This should have happened sooner – it has caused considerable distress to students and their families.  
>  
> “While I recognise and accept that Ofqual has said that university selectors are not content with teachers grading their own students because a minority of schools submit ‘implausibly high predicted grades’ – indeed, that is why we have to have exams in the first place in order to achieve a more accurate measure of A-Level performance – it has become clear that the algorithm used by Ofqual was seriously flawed.   
>  
> “No alternative to examination can be perfect, but Ofqual’s algorithm just did not work.  
>  
> “Questions now need to be asked.  
>  
> “Did Ofqual test their algorithm against previous years’ data and how did that compare against actual grades for A level exams? Why did it take so long for Ofqual and the Department for Education to accept that the algorithm was faulty? And will all universities now accept teacher-only assessments? This is an exceptional year so I hope that they will.”  
>  
> Michael Fabricant MP

Mr Fabricant’s comments come days after he had [suggested teacher-assessed work was “absolutely no solution”](https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/lichfield-mp-says-no-system-could-ever-be-perfect-after-criticism-surrounding-a-level-results/).

The Government confirmed that GCSE results will also be based on teacher assessment instead of the algorithm.

Mr Fabricant said the impact of COVID-19 on education will continue for some time.

> “Grade inflation will inevitably occur, but this is just one of the costs of this global pandemic.  
>  
> “I hope that we will be able to return to examinations as the true measure of ability in 2021\.   
>  
> “However, I am aware that some schools have been better than others at distance learning while schools have been closed, so this will have to be taken into account too next year.  
>  
> “Long after we have a vaccine and the pandemic is over, the effects of Covid will rumble on.”  
>  
> Michael Fabricant MP