Questions remain over how much Williamson knew of the algorithm process before it was widely released. “I'm heartbroken for these students and for a generation that has now been taught to hate algorithms.” “This is exactly what the tech ethics community have been working to avoid,” wrote Tabitha Goldstaub, chair of the Government’s AI council. Streets last weekend had echoed with chants of “f-k the algorithm”. Such claims could act as a landmark moment for automated decision-making. The blame for the turmoil, at least in his eyes, it seemed, laid solely at Ofqual and its algorithm’s door.įor many in the tech sector, this was troubling. “Over the weekend… Ofqual released some of the algorithm, and actually shared that quite broadly, and obviously we saw a number of outliers, that just didn’t actually make sense,” he said this week. Williamson had turned on the regulator, claiming he was “constantly reassured” that the algorithm behind the grading was fair. “It wasn’t hard to find the issues but you have to be looking, you need to be experienced and have a critical eye.”īut now it wasn't a case of ironing out those issues, instead, students would receive teacher predictions for their A-Levels and GCSE grades. Following an outpouring of anger from teachers and pupils over unfairly lowered grades, Ofqual’s model was cast aside.Įxperts were damning of the system used. “I spotted the first problem in it within ten minutes of reading the report,” says Tom Haines, a lecturer in machine learning at the University of Bath. Now, though, just over a week later, it appears those advisors had reason to be concerned. What had been created, insiders say, had been "the least worst option". So, under that remit, Ofqual had to produce an algorithm that looked like it did," Baird says. "He’d instructed Ofqual to find a system that didn't change the outcomes too much from previous years. There, leaders had been forced to apologise, and ultimately had decided to scrap the moderation process.īut, here, in England, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson had been clear. “The evidence upon which students are given their grades really matters to how justified they feel.”Ĭommittee members had just seen what happened in Scotland. Ofqual's technical advisors were feeling uneasy. Ahead of the release of the A-Level results, in a meeting last Tuesday, the external advisory committee "knew that what was coming would be difficult," one of its members Jo-Anne Baird recalls.
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