British college entrance examination score "algorithm" leads to national confusion, senior officials of the Ministry of Education are removed
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who visited a school in Leicestershire, UK on the 26th, severely accused the country of confusion and criticism of the "algorithmic" scoring method for A-Level and GCSE exam results, and announced that he would be exempted from it. The position of Jonathan Slater, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education.
The A-Level and GCSE exams are equivalent to the "College Entrance Examination" and "High School Entrance Examination" in the UK.
Due to the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the British government suspended this year’s A-Level and GCSE exams in the UK; then the Ministry of Education decided that the assessment of these two student performances will be based on the "school assessment results" and then the British Examination Qualification Office Use the "algorithm model" to adjust the score to determine.
However, after the score adjustment of the "algorithm model", many students were significantly downgraded from the school assessment results. Among them, 280,000 students in England, accounting for 40% of the A-Level candidates, were downgraded by at least one level (for example, down from AA). To BB), which aroused doubts from students, schools and parents.
Amid the protests, parts of the UK subsequently announced the cancellation of the "algorithm model" score adjustment, but the current results of students applying for college or high school are still in confusion.
The British government and the Ministry of Education have been widely criticized for this. Prime Minister Johnson stated that it was the use of the "algorithm model" that caused the confusion in the exam results.
Jonathan Slater, the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Education, is the second official to be removed due to this incident. The day before, on the 25th, Sally Collier, the director of the British Examination Qualifications Office, had announced his resignation.
On the 26th, Kate Green, the shadow cabinet minister of education of the Labour Party, the largest opposition party in the UK, criticized Prime Minister Johnson for “shamelessly trying to evade the responsibility of his government for serious mistakes in the examination issue.” She said, “It was the British government and the Ministry of Education. The'algorithm model'; a few weeks before the incident, the government had been alerted in advance, but repeatedly refused to solve the problems caused." (Headquarters reporter Tian Xiaochun)