Warning over A* for admissions

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Top universities risk undermining confidence by using the new A* A-level grade for admissions, a minister warns.

England's Higher Education Minister David Lammy said they might unfairly reject pupils whose schools failed to predict accurately they may get an A*.

The A* grade will be awarded for the first time in 2010 for marks over 90%.

Last month Cambridge said prospective undergraduates would need at least one A* and two As from next year - but says it will not rely on predicted grades.

The proportion of A-level entries awarded an A grade last year - currently the highest grade - was almost 26% on average across all subjects.

The more prestigious universities, with many more applicants than places, have been saying for some time that they find it hard to distinguish between the best candidates.

This is why the government decided to introduce the A*, to tease out the very brightest.

Public confidence

Mr Lammy said a review was being conducted into the reliability of A* predictions.

Speaking at a conference for the higher education admissions service, Ucas, Mr Lammy said: "It is a shame, therefore, that certain research-intensive universities have made the decision to use predicted A* grades in their application process, before this review has taken place.

"This goes back to the importance of fairness and transparency in retaining public confidence," he said.

"That confidence will be undermined - and the sometimes corrosive debate on widening participation inflamed - if talented young people are rejected, only to find that their peers are accepted as near misses, thanks to more optimistic predictions but not achievement.

"More broadly, I think it can only be right that actual achievement is rewarded.

"But for as long as our applications process relies on predicted grades in making offers, or turning candidates down, then we - and you - need assurances that A* grades can be predicted accurately."

Denial

Head of admissions at Cambridge University, Dr Geoff Parks, said Mr Lammy had misunderstood the admissions process.

Dr Parks said admissions tutors would not use schools' predictions to offer places, but based its offers on a range of factors including GCSE results and interviews.

They would expect prospective undergraduates to get an A* in at least one A-level - and their evidence had been that this would favour state school applicants.

"We've gone for the decision to use A* because we need something to differentiate between students. We are showing confidence in public examinations."

The alternative, he added, would be more use of the "Cambridge-specific" admissions methods - such as the interview - which were often criticised.