Isle of Man A-Level grades based on teacher assessments 'fairer'

Grading A-Levels based on teacher assessments is a "fairer" system, a Manx teacher has said.

Hundreds of island students received their results earlier after the process was disrupted for a second year as a result of Covid-19.

Ballakermeen High School Sixth Form's director Richard Karran said a record 66% of grades were between A* and B.

He said it reflected a fairer picture than in the past, when grades would be based on one final exam.

It was announced in March that grades would be estimated by teachers based on a students performance as a whole, after Cambridge International Education scrapped exams due to the pandemic.

Mr Karran said despite the decision late in the academic year the process was fairer.

"Previously, you did two years of work and then everything was resting on one final exam and if you had a bad day that's quite unfair," he said.

However, Mr Karran said it was not sustainable because the workload on teachers was "too much" and "just too difficult for them."

In the future he thought assessments could continue independently and "over the period of an academic year as opposed to all-in-one month at the end."

Among students receiving their results Hope O'Brien and Macy Tyrer were thrilled to announce: "We both just got into Oxford."

Hope is studying bio-chemistry and Macy is going to read music.

"I think if you told us last year that we'd both got in we never would have believed it", Hope said.

Reema Hameed Sulthan is planning to study medicine but has deferred a year to work as a science technician at Ballakermeen.

She said: "I love Ballakermeen and I'm so happy to be working here next year."

The education department said around 60% of school leavers are expected to start an undergraduate course in September.

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