Three-grade boost for one in 10 A-level students after algorithm axed

One in 10 A-level students was given a three-grade boost after teachers' predictions replaced a controversial algorithm last summer, an official report has found. Ofqual found that, for some students, the grades the algorithm had calculated – based on factors including their own and their school's recent past performance – were "considerably lower" than their teachers' predictions. Analysts cited previous research which found that, after controlling for prior attainment and other candidate characteristics, students from private and grammar schools were "more likely to be over-predicted at A-level". A poll of over 3,000 teachers, commissioned by the social mobility charity the Sutton Trust, also found that 17 per cent of teachers at state schools in wealthy areas felt pressured over grades.