Students get worse grades depending on their last names

For this study, the researchers compared 30 million grades given in the same academic year. They have found a structural difference between those whose last names start with the first five letters of the alphabet and those whose last names start with the last five letters. It's a difference of 0.06 on a scale of 0 to 10.

The reason
According to UU education scientist Casper Hulshof, this is a well-known problem. The difference can be attributed to the fact that online teaching systems such as Canvas and Remindo present tests to teachers in alphabetic order. Helen Wang, one of the researchers behind the study, told Scientias that the quality of grading diminishes as the teacher grows tired, so teachers are not conscious about giving worse grades to the students whose tests are checked last. It's a small difference, but if it happens consistently, it can have significant consequences.  

Remindo, a software used by many at UU, partially tackles the problem. Since 2023, tests are always anonymised and presented to the teacher in a random order. However, papers and essays are sometimes not anonymised and still presented in alphabetical order.

Solution
The solution is pretty straightforward, according to the article. Students' work – be it exams, papers or essays – should always be presented to the teacher in a random order, so that the disadvantage doesn't always fall on the same students. Additionally, Hulshof suggests teachers not spend too much time grading students' work.