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Original poster

DD's GSCE controlled assessments in English being scrapped...

86 replies

Kbear · 07/06/2014 18:42

DD (year 10) has come home from school raging because her English teacher has told the class that their controlled assessments from past two years' work in English are not forming part of their GCSE any more? In the light of no actual information from the school at all to explain this, is there anyone here who can take a stab at why this would be. Apparently the Head of English has decided.... they are going to do iGCSE instead. I have no idea what that is.

A letter will be coming home from school next week I am told but I wondered if anyone here can explain a bit?

OP posts:
LIZS · 07/06/2014 21:34

ds did CAs as part of his IGCSE, which were an alternative to sitting some papers.

Cosmiccreepers203 · 07/06/2014 21:32

Also, the issue often is that things are changed half way through the course so that teachers have the tough decision of letting pupils fail but keep their original work or make them do more work with a chance to pass. It would be really nice if they didn't fiddle with it all the time. It feels like dancing on quick sand.

Cosmiccreepers203 · 07/06/2014 21:27

It does look dodgy but it is actually being done to benefit your DD. My school has done the same thing because we can no longer trust our GCSE exam board to play fair in the exam marking and grade boundaries. It isn't an easy choice but the IGCSE course is more fair on the students but also more rigorous on spelling, grammar and punctuation. Also, more focus on the application of reading and writing skills on the language paper. Hope this helps.

TalkinPeace · 07/06/2014 21:06

DD is year 11
controlled assessments were torn up AFTER they were done.

Gove is a fucking maniac who does not give a shit about children outside his bubble

IGCSE is much easier than GCSE - DCs school and others round here use it to bump kids from D to C to get the EBACC

actually I think "controlled assessments" are a stupid thing and need getting rid of
but the way it has been done stinks

Suffolkgirl1 · 07/06/2014 20:23

It depends which igcse. DS did CIE. They had no controlled assessment or course work except speaking, the rest was all exam. The literature seemed very hard to me. DS studied The Tempest which other exam boards use as an A level text.

RaspberryLemonPavlova · 07/06/2014 20:06

My DS (Y11) has just done both GCSE and iGCSE. As the exams were scheduled at the same time they did one in the morning, were kept in seclusion over lunch, then did the other. I think school is trying to maximise their chances of a good grade. I think it meant one piece of extra coursework, but am not entirely sure. DS is predicted A so we'll see.

They did Literature last year.

bigTillyMint · 07/06/2014 19:32

Kbear, that is crap. This is what Gove and those twats in power are doing to schools - making them so worried about their results that they switch pupils halfway through the courseAngry

DD is doing the iGCSE I think and I am not impressed - just excerpts from texts, really dumbed down from what I can see. Although it is probably better for the ones who might just scrape a C.

Original poster
Kbear · 07/06/2014 18:56

I think it's a bit off to talk to the class but not back it up with factual information for the parents. I am annoyed but I need facts before I can form my approach to the school about this. Thanks for your replies.

She is upset because she worked really hard for two years out of the three - she got As in her assessments - how to demotivate a year group just as they approach such an important year....

OP posts:
doyouspeakwhale · 07/06/2014 18:53

I think it's a bit off to change your DD's course when she's already half way through. It would be more sensoble for the school to start the new course with next year's year 10 students and keep this year 10 on the same track.

Having said that, English GCSE is much more about skills than knowledge, so all the work she has been doing on those CAs will still have been very beneficial.

Coconutty · 07/06/2014 18:51

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

OhMyActualDays · 07/06/2014 18:48

Oh, I can, my school did this last year. People think at the moment that they have a better chance of Cs with the IGCSE (which stands for international GCSE) mostly because speaking and listening still counts and it is coursework rather than controlled assessment, so it can be redrafted many times. I have taught the IGCSE this year and no complaints, although it is quite old-fashioned I think. I think your daughter has the right to feel a bit pissed off that her controlled assessments no longer count though!