What should matter most for getting into college? In the UK, more than a score.

Rahul Rajendran dreamed of attending an Ivy League school in the United States to study astrophysics. 

A native of Klang, a port town on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Mr. Rajendran earned a scholarship to a prestigious British international school in Malaysia, and figured the A-level path – an intensive course of study culminating in globally recognized tests taken by students in the United Kingdom – was his ticket to a top university. 

But then the pandemic intervened, canceling the high-stakes exams on which he and legions of other students in the U.K. and around the world rely. As he was forced to recalibrate his dreams, he came to a realization that mirrors a growing trend: the desire for a fairer and more comprehensive way to assess students and their abilities.

“It paints a better

Taking on the status quo“From numbers towards narratives”