Pandemic grade inflation strengthened university prospects for both private school and disadvantaged students

Tom Almeroth-W… Disadvantaged students also benefited, however, and the long-term effects for this group could provide valuable information about how to close the university admissions gap. Using teacher-assigned A-Level grades during the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately improved the university prospects of private school students but also had a surprise “levelling” effect on disadvantaged applicants, a study published in Oxford Economic Papers has found. The University of Cambridge research is the first to provide empirical evidence of how the chaotic 2020 switch to teacher-assigned grading affected students’ trajectories into higher education.