24 April 2026
Teacher assessed grades widened post-16 choices
On Thursday 23rd April I attended the launch of a report by the Education Policy Institute and UCL, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, which looked at ‘mismatching’ between pupil ability and post-16 choices as well as the impact on choices of the change to teacher assessed grades during the COVID pandemic.
By correlating prior attainment of pupils with the level of attainment of students on their post-16 course choices, the researchers estimated whether they had under-matched (taken an option with students averaging below their capability) or overmatched (joined a course with students averaging above their ability).
The report shows some clear variations by the context of the pupils. For instance, female students are more likely to undermatch – referred to as making ‘less ambitious’ choices. Pupils from sponsor academies were also found to undermatch, while those from private schools, grammar schools and UTCs were more likely to overmatch.
The effects of moving from centre assessed grades to teacher assessed grades during COVID was seen to have an impact. Many students received better grades through this, and that led to an increase in higher levels of study at level 3. While the completion levels of those courses for these students were lower, the net effect still appeared to be an increase in the numbers gaining level 3 qualifications.
Teacher assessed grades led to a widening of the gap between private and state schools, but a narrowing of the gender gap.
Read more about the report on teacher assessed grades and post-16 choices.
By correlating prior attainment of pupils with the level of attainment of students on their post-16 course choices, the researchers estimated whether they had under-matched (taken an option with students averaging below their capability) or overmatched (joined a course with students averaging above their ability).
The report shows some clear variations by the context of the pupils. For instance, female students are more likely to undermatch – referred to as making ‘less ambitious’ choices. Pupils from sponsor academies were also found to undermatch, while those from private schools, grammar schools and UTCs were more likely to overmatch.
The effects of moving from centre assessed grades to teacher assessed grades during COVID was seen to have an impact. Many students received better grades through this, and that led to an increase in higher levels of study at level 3. While the completion levels of those courses for these students were lower, the net effect still appeared to be an increase in the numbers gaining level 3 qualifications.
Teacher assessed grades led to a widening of the gap between private and state schools, but a narrowing of the gender gap.
Read more about the report on teacher assessed grades and post-16 choices.
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