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Original poster

Can DD retake German GCSE next year to improve grade if need be?

32 replies

Sobek · 12/03/2015 21:16

Just back from parents' evening and year 10 Dd's teacher said she probably won't hit her target grade of an A (she's double option, so does German in Year 10 and French in Year 11). I said that DD doesn't want to do French next year and would like to carry on with German with the hope of improving her grade to an A*. He said that it's no longer possible to improve your grade this way and that she will be stuck with whatever grade she gets for German this year regardless of any improvement if she takes the exam again next year. Is that correct?

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AliceMcGee · 16/03/2015 07:07

sobek just to clarify though, when she applies to university eventually, she will have to declare all attempts

Original poster
Sobek · 14/03/2015 21:24

That's a good point about the timetable Mostly, I hadn't thought about that. Apparently, there is some sort of rotation and it depends which half of the timetable she has got. So it might not be possible anyway.

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Callooh · 14/03/2015 19:14

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Mostlyjustaluker · 14/03/2015 18:46

Another comment about resisting with the rest of year 11 next year. This will depend on option blocks, most probably this will work if the other year 10 class who are sitting the exam next year have German at the same time as her current class.

EllenJanesthickerknickers · 13/03/2015 22:07

Progress/attainment 8 is the new school measure instead of 5 A* to C including English and maths. Starts for current Y 10s. It's a better measure in some ways as it includes all GCSE grades down to G in 8 GCSEs. English and maths are double weighted, (English only if lit and lan taken) then 3 EBacc subjects from sciences, computing, MFL, history, geog, and 3 'others' which can be more vocational or EBacc if not already one of the 3 in the EBacc basket/bucket.

But this is a school measure, not a child measure. So he is either mistaken or being economical with the truth to try to improve his department's results.

Original poster
Sobek · 13/03/2015 22:00

Thanks for that deadline Noble, that is very interesting, especially as my Year 11 wanted to give up WJEC GCSE French as the whole of the group are failing (they're the top languages group too!) and I was told last week that it is far too late to withdraw her now and that she has no choice but to take the exam. She was predicted an A* too!

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Original poster
Sobek · 13/03/2015 21:58

I heard something about Progress8 but didn't really understand it. For some reason, I thought that it was only going to affect the current Year 8s.

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EllenJanesthickerknickers · 13/03/2015 20:49

This teacher is wrong. He's getting what counts for the school mixed up with what counts for the pupil. (Or lying) 2 Cs would be better for the school than one A in progress 8, but not* for the DC.

HmmAnOxfordComma · 13/03/2015 20:30

Sorry, his.

HmmAnOxfordComma · 13/03/2015 20:30

All I can say is this teacher has really rather exceptionally low expectations of her students.

noblegiraffe · 13/03/2015 20:11

Deadline for amendments to entries for WJEC is 31st March, with late fees payable after, however it says that no late fees are charged for withdrawal of candidates, which certainly suggests you can withdraw after that deadline.
See page 7
www.wjec.co.uk/CM-W04.pdf?language_id=1

The government introduced a rule about resits where the improved result doesn't count in the league tables. A student who sits maths in November and got a D then sat it again in June and got a C would not be included in the 5A*-C inc maths and English measure for example. However that student would most definitely have a C in maths to gain entry to sixth form and to put on their CV. The teacher is most definitely wrong on that count! Otherwise I wouldn't have a Y12 GCSE resit group at the moment as there would be no point!

sablepoot · 13/03/2015 20:09

If she takes it this year and next, then both grades stand. She would also have to do an entire new set of controlled assessments for next years exam. In most cases (eg CV) she could choose to declare whichever result was highest and ignore the other, but in some cases (eg UCAS) she should declare both results. if the first result was the highest, the latter result might be harder to forget about as depending on what exam boards she was using for other subjects it may appear on the same certificate as some of her other subjects.

Original poster
Sobek · 13/03/2015 19:46

Can I just clarify something...just in case I'm not understanding this properly. If Dd gets a C this year, but retakes it next year and gets an A, then it is the A grade that will stand? The teacher definitely said told me that you only get one attempt now and the first grade you get is with you for life regardless of any grade achieved later. He said this has been introduced by the government to stop schools entering kids for GCSEs more than once in an attempt to improve grades. Maybe he isn't trying to pull the wool over my eyes...perhaps he's misunderstood it himself?

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Original poster
Sobek · 13/03/2015 19:42

Thanks so much for your replies. Dd would be very happy to prepare for controlled assessments in her own time. I think I need to speak to the school about this but I'm not sure how helpful they will be.

The teacher also told me not to get too hopeful for great results in the exam because the German listening exam is the hardest exam out of all the GCSEs taken in the country. He said that last year the highest result in the school for the listening paper was a B and that the average result nationally was a C. When I was telling Dh this, my Year 11 Dd overheard and said that is absolute nonsense and that when she took German last year she got an A in the listening paper, as did quite a few others in her class (she got an A grade overall, but had a different teacher).

I don't think I can really trust this teacher! Feel a bit stupid now for not questioning him a bit more about what he said!

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Chipsahoythere · 13/03/2015 19:33

No I meant she can prepare in her own time. I'm an MFL teacher and CAs don't need to be sent off for my exam board til May

pearlgirl · 13/03/2015 19:31

I still have students doing controlled assessments for German - I am aiming that all will be done in time for marking and moderation and dispatch to be done by the exam board deadlines. Please feel free to pm if you want.

noblegiraffe · 13/03/2015 19:29

If a level 5 gets a B, then that's the minimum that they are expected to get.

Original poster
Sobek · 13/03/2015 19:27

That's interesting Noble. Do you know when the withdrawal date is for WJEC or how I could find out?

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Original poster
Sobek · 13/03/2015 19:26

The teacher genuinely did say all of that to me. I think he is hoping she will get a B, but she was led to believe that an A was likely as he misled her about her controlled assessment results. He said it's too late now to retake controlled assessments as they all have to be sent off to the board next week. Actually, I should have questioned him about that because Dd in Year 11 French is still doing controlled assessments. I think I was just a bit surprised by what he was telling me and not thinking straight. Controlled assessments can't be taken in her own time unfortunately as she has to have a teacher sitting with her whilst she does the work.

Interesting that level 5s would be expected to get a B (which is what he told me to be fair). Suppose I feel slightly pissed off that at first he gives her a high target (an unachievable target perhaps?) and now says that he would never have expected her to get that anyway!

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noblegiraffe · 13/03/2015 19:23

The withdrawal deadline for OCR is 21st March.
You can withdraw from Edexcel at any time (but may not get a refund if late)
The withdrawal deadline for AQA would appear to be in July, after the exam.

So the school is incorrect.

HmmAnOxfordComma · 13/03/2015 19:14

Also, if she got level 5s at primary, they need to get her to a B minimum anyway, not a C...

HmmAnOxfordComma · 13/03/2015 19:13

If all that is genuinely what the teacher has said, then they are talking a load of crap.

The first result is the only one that counts for the school's Progress 8 stats, but dd can retake and get a new grade.

Also one A grade is much better than two Cs.

Chipsahoythere · 13/03/2015 19:08

She could ask the teacher if she can do another controlled assessment that she prepares in her own time.

Chipsahoythere · 13/03/2015 19:07

The teacher won't have given her the target A*. I have children in my class that I know would never get above a grade C, yet have targets of A. They won't reach that target.

Original poster
Sobek · 13/03/2015 19:05

School said it is too late to withdraw from GCSE now as she has already been entered and that she would get a grade 'x' if she did not do the exams which would look far worse than a grade 'c'.

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