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

Yes, can't find anything concrete and looks like there is a lot undecided on grade boundaries. Great as the first thing students ask me is what they need to get in the exams to pass English language - usually I can at least tell them last year's boundaries but that won't apply now!
I don't think any schools will predict 9s - too uncertain and risky.
at HPFA stealth boast suggestion!
I am just happy DS1 likes his option choices so far and isn't trying to change anything!

Teachers have no idea what constitutes any grade - what mark will get you what number, and they won't know till the first cohort has gone through next year. Certainly in English, which I teach, anyway.

Teachers are having to guess or use percentages that have been estimated by other agencies. At the moment we know 40/80 is a C grade on the higher paper in language for example, but have no idea now. And there's no coursework, or tiered exams so they all sit the same one.

9s will be rare so we've been told. It's great isn't it! I would say 7s would be good but employers and colleges won't have a clue, and they'll only move the goalposts like they did with the last new spec the summer we all bombed when they changed the grade boundaries.

I'm on maternity leave at the moment so am not worrying about any of this till next year lol.

DS' school won't predict ANY 9s as they have said they are for the top 3% and they cannot be completely confident of a 9 for even the most able. I am a teacher and although I have my head round the new specification we have no text book suitable for it yet.

My DS will be a Maths and English guinea-pig. I am worried for him - he will not be an easy 8.

It is a shockingly crap situation that Gove has forced on their teachers and them

And here is the government's explanation for Grades 7-9

www.gov.uk/government/news/how-the-top-grades-will-be-awarded-in-new-gcses-in-2017

Clear as mud.

The real way to stealth boast is to campaign for a Grade 10, on the grounds that 9 doesn't really differentiate the really able from the merely quite bright.

We got the target grades at the beginning of year 10 and then a grade for each term to reflect the current level and mock results (they have done a couple of mocks last year). The mock results have oscillated from "on target/higher than target (English specially) to below target so I can't wait to see the results of the next mocks.

gillybeanz, dd got her target & currently working at grades at the end of year 10 after their mocks.

New system has totally screwed up my ds, now he won't be taking any GCSEs.

Oh, the other part of your question is quite complicated! I'll come back to you with the answer on that one! I'll try and find the right link...

I think it depends on the school. At the end of year 9 DS had a target GCSE grade for science because they'd already started on the GCSE syllabus so I am expecting to see targets appear in the next report that's sent home (Christmas? not sure yet!)

So, sorry to derail but what year do pupils get their target/ predicted grades?
Also how are the results awarded? Will it be a percentage so e.g 75% is a B etc
Thanks Loose

Thanks Fleur, it's becoming clearer now
How will they get the grades?
Can anyone explain the process?

I'm going to take notes from this thread
Thanks for starting it OP.

4 is a low C. For funding purposes it will be a pass for the next couple of years but the government wants 5 to be the pass after that and in fact when measuring performance will use 5 as the benchmark, not 4. It won't be a whole lot of fun for candidates having to explain 'but it was a pass in 2018' and the content is harder.

How about some if the new syllabi not being ratified until last April/May, so teachers having to take 'best guesses' as what to teach and text books just published but not printed yet? My school likes to start GCSE teaching by May half term in Y9 as that means 2 full years teaching. We're already half a term behind and still haven't received text books. It's a shambles and my DS3 is right in the middle of it in Y10.

Anyway, to answer your point, I shall be boasting about 8s as if they were A*s and pretending 4s are as good as a C.

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".

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.

Thegiant

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

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"

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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...