Grade inflation is the enemy of talent. 

This year, 28.3% of A Level grades awarded were A* and A. The overall proportion of A* is 9.4%. Both of these numbers are the highest ever for a non-pandemic year (figures from the Telegraph).

The more pupils receiving the highest grades, the harder it is to discern talent and to identify the brightest pupils. And the poorest of the brightest pupils are disproportionately harmed by this.

For the poorest in our society, social mobility means greater freedoms to make choices. The wealthier you are, the greater the choices are that are available to you. Where you live, where your children are educated, what you eat and drink, where you go on holiday. The world opens up, literally and figuratively. 

Academic success is not the only route to greater freedoms, but for a bright child from a poor backgound, it is certainly a valuable option. However, if an A level candidate is within the top 1% academically, and they receive an A*, the A* simply proves that they are within, based on this year’s figures, the top 9.4% of pupils. This is effectively a downgrade.

Being in the top 1% means nothing if it can’t be proved. For a young person from a low socio-economic background, academic excellence is a gift that opens doors to the best universities and to the professions and other higher-earning careers. Of course, there are other ways to make one’s way in the world, but in specifically considering the harm of grade inflation, for me, the worst of it is that it deprives bright but poor young people of being able to make the most of the gift of their intelligence. 

I am focussing on the lower end of the income range for two reasons. Firstly, because if you believe, like me, in the importance of social mobility, this is where the most good and, unfortunately, the most harm can be done. Lumping the brightest 1% in with the top 9.4% of their peers – or by the same token, the top 10% in with the top 28.3% –  puts them on an equal footing with the less bright, and makes them compete for opportunities without being able to prove their true standing. For the poorest, who likely don’t have the kind of connections and support that would help them find the top career opportunities, this is simply a route to staying where they are. The chance to sit hard, rigorously marked exams and to show thereby what you can do is a huge opportunity which has, frustratingly, slipped away. 

Secondly, I know it, because I’ve been there. I was a bright pupil at a poorly-performing comprehensive and decided that I wanted to go to Cambridge. I duly applied and received my offer, and was invited to the headmaster’s study to discuss. I walked in expecting congratulations and support; instead, I was simply told that pupils at that school don’t get grades like that and that I should accept a lower offer from elsewhere. Well, I walked away down the corridor on fire with determination to win my place at St Catharine’s College, which I did, and it changed my life in all sorts of ways – not least in giving me the challenge I craved (in spades!) and to know that I was indeed anyone’s match academically. 

However, I was only able to do this because in those days, exams were still graded in a way that distinguished the brightest. 

If we are to support social mobility, and advancement based on merit, we must return to grades that truly differentiate.