overarching objectives under which Ofqual was established by the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009. The objectives require that the grading system gives a reliable indication of the knowledge, skills and understanding of the student, and that it allows for reliable comparisons to be made with students taking exams graded by other boards and to be made with students who took comparable exams in previous years. The Labour Party suggested that the process was unlawful in that the students were given no appeal mechanism, stating: "There will be a mass of discriminatory impacts by operating the process on the basis of reflecting the previous years' results from their institutions", and "It is bound to disadvantage a whole range of groups with protected characteristics, in breach of a range of anti-discrimination legislation." See also 2020 UK GCSE and A-Level grading controversy References External links Requirements for the calculation of results in summer 2020 – Ofqual, 7 July 2020, updated 20 August Student guide to post-16 qualification results: summer 2020 – Ofqual, 27 July 2020, updated 19 August Taking exams during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak – guidance from the Department for Education, published 20 March 2020, updated 27 August Higher Education Policy Institute algorithm discussion, May 2020 Education Committee Oral evidence: The Impact of Covid-19 on education and children’s services, HC 254 Wednesday 2 September 2020 2020 in England School examinations Government by algorithm