What grade of new GCSE's will be good enough for Facebragging?!

[VagueButlmportant]

So I understand the new GCSE's I think.

DD has just started Y10. She's only been given a few of her targets but they are all 7s so far.

So are there any local journalists out there who can tell me whether they will be wanting all 9s before she's invited to leap in the air next to a smug-looking headmaster come August 2018? Or will we all be Facebook bragging if our DC get a "string of 8s"?

As for 7s (which I understand is equivalent to an A) - are they going to prompt the pushy mums to be "devastated?"

I think we perhaps need to come up with an official Mumsnet policy on this. I'm not sure if I should be delighted that DD is predicted 7s (I think I would have been with As) even though there are two more grades she could be getting?

Gove didn't really think this through from the POV of the Facebook / Mumsnet mother angle!

[sharkinthedark]

Nice stealthboast there about your dd's string of 7's!

[Seulgi]

I didn't even realise that they changed it from grades to numbers. If a 7 is an A, I'm assuming that a 9 is an A* so what's an 8?

[PotteringAlong]

8 is an A. 9 is an A* that doesn't exist yet. It doesn't completely match. A 5 is a top C / low B equivalent (ish£

[Muskey]

Good point op. This is a really serious issue and I am alarmed that this has not been thought through. Gove has a lot to answer for.

[VagueButlmportant]

Ooh! Was it a stealth boast? That's good news!

I assumed I'd get lots of replies saying "well my DS has been predicted 9s in every subject so you'll have to keep your DD's results to yourself"

[Hulababy]

Trouble is, give it a few more years, and when all the teachers know what they are teaching fully, and the children have their heads round the new systems too - and grades rise, guess what? They'll just add a 10. Cant be a coincidence that they choice to have the highest number as the lowest grade.

[yeOldeTrout]

Bragging just for the sake of bragging is a bit gauche.

[Balletgirlmum]

We've been told 9 is A**
8 is between A & A*
7 is between A & B

Dd's teachers are being non committal. She has been predicted between 7-9 in any that would actuslly tell us. They wouldn't be any more specific than that.

[noblegiraffe]

The government has just announced that they are changing the way that they will award the 9, meaning (vastly) more 9s and 8s in some subjects, and far fewer in others (3000 fewer 9s in maths).

[sharkinthedark]

noblegiraffe that's really unfair

[gillybeanz]

noble

I'm sorry, i don't understand.
What do you mean, isn't a 9 the same for all subjects?
We are a way off yet, but I would like to understand more.

Hula I'm not a fan of the government, but surely 9 is the highest because they can't go below 1 unless they do minus numbers, so if 1 was the highest there would be nowhere to go. Or am I being immensely dense, i can take it

[chocolateworshipper]

Sorry, but my DD is predicted to get at least fifteen 9A**s with Distinction, so I win

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

is that true Noble? so there won't be a parity across subjects? what's the reasoning behind that?

[gillybeanz]

Can somebody explain the missing 3000 9's for Maths.
I feel like it's some kind of conundrum.

[AndreaStan]

I'm a maths teacher at a college, we're moving onto the 9-1 specification next year. They're making the maths GCSEs harder, as they're bringing down material from A/B onto the foundation (5/C) and bringing material down from a/s level to 8/9. I'm not looking forward to teaching it if I'm honest, and not sure how this'll affect future students :(

[MooPointCowsOpinion]

noblegiraffe id like to know about the 9s too, my understanding was it would be given to the top 2.5% of those achieving 7 or 8. Is the criteria different for different subjects, surely maths will be looked upon at the subject that didn't get as high grades as others then, blamed for bringing progress 8 down across the school...

[gillybeanz]

So the past AS level will be brought down to GCSE and will become 8/9
Would this be an old A*/ A
Then 7 would be a high A/B, and 6 would be a B, so 5 would be a high B/ C.

How will we know if the person who gets a 6 or any other number has a particular grade if 2 of the old way are used e.g is a 6 a B/C it could make a huge difference for FE providers and offering places.

[Stickerrocks]

We've been told that our school is unlikely to be able to cover any of the material for a 9 during the school day, so they will try to cover it in extra classes after school for the brightest few.

[Redsrule]

In English (and I believe Maths) the biggest difficulty, and the current Y11 will do this new specification in 2017, is that no grade specific exemplar material will be available until after the first exams. Have to feel sorry for the pupils they are working in the dark.

[Thegiantofillinois]

Targets are based on what they got at the end of yr6. The truth is, no one fucking knows anymore, which makes it slightly hysterical that we're being asked to predict whether or not kids will reach the their targets and being held to it.

My class are targeted 5, 6, 7. I have no idea whether they will get that. I could tell you who'd get A-C though.

[Thegiantofillinois]

We were told 5= top c/ b.
6=b/b+
7= A-/A
8= A+/A#
9=A##

[HoneyDragon]

So how is this affecting teachers? Ds's report from the front line is that "we've all been put in mixed sets again, everything's a clusterfuck and the teachers look fed up already"

[gillybeanz]

Thegiant

Is 4 a D then or a C?
Some of us will be grateful for some mercy in terms of Maths.

[CalleighDoodle]

It is a ridiculous fuckup. Some Specs werent given the go-ahead until july. Textbooks might be out by christmas. Obviously no past-paper. Everyone is in the dark.

[Fleurdelise]

My DS is one of the Guinea pigs taking the first 1-9 GCSEs so I know this table by heart.

On a funny note OP I plan to facebrag no matter what, this is a massive opportunity, nobody will know what you're talking about. As long as you put the feeling proud in status. I plan a "so so proud of DS, he achieved a string of 2s in his GCSEs- feeling blessed".