There are no ‘right’ answers to the exams crisis – we must trust teachers

It could almost be a tricky question in the newly established A-level Covid studies exam: “Grading exams without exams is impossible. Discuss.”

So far, the tutorials provided by the education secretary, Gavin Williamson, haven’t really provided the students with much material to refute the proposition, given that the key to a good grade here is a thoroughly discursive exploration of the arguments.

Mr Williamson professes to place near-absolute confidence in the teachers. So does his headmaster, and head of classics, Boris Johnson. There will be various exam board assessments of a non-binding nature (non-exam exams) and teachers can base their assessments on properly conducted mock exams, as well as coursework. A manual describing what is expected, grade by grade, will be supplied. All concerned declare their adherence to professional standards of behaviour, academic excellence and the interests of pupils.

Trouble is: human nature. There is an inevitable temptation – no need to put it stronger than that – for teachers to nudge grades up, because it flatters both them and their pupils. The more assertive adolescents of today will also press for higher grades and rail against a fail. With few incentives in the other direction, and acting under the assumption that teachers will assume others will give generous marks, grade inflation may feel like a rational and necessary course of action. Alternatively, teachers might overcompensate in the other direction, such is their fear of being guilty of grade inflation.

In any case, it will be a bit of a free for all and some grade inflation seems inevitable. There are many incentives to do so, and few disincentives, and the chances of being caught are slim.

But so what? There is no alternative, except to put every schoolchild through a repeat year of education: Britain’s children all being held down for a year. Last year’s fiasco of algorithms and upsets proves the point.

The other reason for calm is the expectation that employers and universities will apply a certain amount of caution to the grades won by the class of 2021. They may well find alternative, complementary ways to assess their prospective employees or undergraduates, for example through interviews or exam tests of their own devising. Those methods, too, have their flaws, of course.

It is clear that there are no “right” answers to the current crisis, and every possible way out carries its own risks and dangers. For now, then, we must trust the teachers.