A TEACHER in the South West claims that the GCSE results system is “rigged” with only a certain number of pupils being able to attain the grades they may deserve. 

The secondary teacher, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: “The system is basically rigged. Essentially, the exam boards work off what’s called a dynamic grading system. Every year, they move the goalposts so if you imagine grades U-A, only so many people in the country will get an A. 

“Let’s say it’s 100 kids get an A, 100 kids get a B, 100 kids get a C etc. This means that every year, there are a set number of kids, which doesn’t matter how hard they work, they will fail. Every single year, you’re going against the other people in your year group. 

“What you really want is for yourself to be really intelligent and the rest of the kids taking that exam board to be really stupid - because if that’s the case then you’ll get a better grade from fewer marks. 

“So, the reason they do this is because if they rattle out a very easy exam, it still means only a certain number of them will get a nine, only a certain number will get an 8 (or an A, B or C). So, it just pits kids against kids and school against school. Every single year they will move the goalposts.”

The claim follows the news of Forest pupils receiving their GCSE results (Aug 22). 

An Ofqual spokesperson said: “Once students have sat their (GCSE, AS and A level) exams, their work is sent to the exam boards who will begin marking. Grade boundaries are set once marking is nearly complete.   Grade boundaries typically change each exam series and are often different between exam boards.

“This reflects any differences in the difficulty of the assessments. There is no cap on the number of students who can achieve a particular grade in any year – grades are awarded purely on a student’s performance in their exams and assessments. Students can be confident that their grades reflect what they know, understand, and can do.”

AQA and The Department for Education chose not to comment. OCR were also contacted for comment.