University places lost after marking errors

An inquiry into mistakes made by the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) laid the blame on failures with the board’s online marking system.

And the awarding body was criticised for its delay in reporting the problem to exams regulators.

Chief executive Isabel Nisbet of the exams regulator Ofqual, which led the inquiry, said the failings by AQA were “very disappointing.”

Errors occurred when a failure with AQA’s online system meant that not all of students’ material was marked, the inquiry found.

In total, some 3,353 GCSE and A-level pupils were given the wrong marks. Of these, 622 students were given the wrong grades, including 146 A-level students.

Ofqual said the university admissions service, UCAS, had confirmed that while the majority of A-level students were unaffected, in 11 cases students were offered places at their second choice university, or placed through clearing, rather than their first choice.

A further two students failed to find places at all.

Ms Nisbet said: “The failings by AQA identified by this inquiry are very disappointing, especially as they led to some candidates missing out on their first choice of university or course.

“Factors that contributed to the marking error included limited piloting of the new on-screen marking system, a lack of effective risk assessments and deficiencies in the role and training of examiners.”