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Original poster

TV advert to explain new 9-1 GCSE doesn't mention new pass grade.

57 replies

noblegiraffe · 06/03/2017 22:06

www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-news/ofqual-ramps-publicity-amid-confusion-over-numerical-gcse-grades

Ofqual has been forced to launch TV and Facebook ads explaining the new GCSE grades after a survey showed that most people didn't know know anything about them, including 84% of HR professionals.

However, in a bizarre decision, the advert mentions that the proportion of kids getting a 4 and above will be the same as that who previously got a C or above but doesn't explain that the 5 will be the new good pass grade.

Why are they covering this up? Are they going to backtrack? Trying to avert panic?

Why are teachers around the country telling kids that 5 is the new pass and in future this is what employers will be looking for, when the government are not using this presumably expensive one-off opportunity to tell employers this?

OP posts:
timeforabrewnow · 07/03/2017 06:51

No doubt hedging their bets.

WhoKn0wsWhereTheTimeG0es · 07/03/2017 06:48

Speaking as a parent (oldest child is yr 8 so not chosen options yet or had any info from school) who has only heard about this change from MN, it's bad enough trying to remember that 9 is the highest not lowest grade let alone get your head round the pass cutoff confusion.

sashh · 07/03/2017 06:45

I'm going to have to try again to explain inverse functions and iteration - with 15 year olds

Part of me is thinking, "so what? We learned it at 15" but a couple of weeks ago I was in a special school. Students who have learning disabilities attempting work that last year would have got them a B grade and now they have to learn it for a predicted grade bellow 'pass'.

Then I remember that yes I did do iteration and matrices and other stuff not done until A Level, but that only a minority of children took the exams let alone passed them.

JamDonutsRule · 07/03/2017 00:55

I think it's going to be a 5, because the whole point of this massive cock up reorganisation was to bring standards 2/3rds of a grade up so we were in line with affluent countries in the PISA testing.

I think what we are seeing now is the transition period when the govt would like a 4 to also count as a good pass, in the hope that achievement will have risen in a few years at which point a 5 can become a good pass.

somehow I doubt achievement will rise

Original poster
noblegiraffe · 06/03/2017 23:15

Thing is, it's going to be a grade 5 for the league tables so while the DfE are clearly going to take the 5 as the new pass for school accountability measures, for some reason they haven't communicated that.

OP posts:
Onceuponatime21 · 06/03/2017 22:37

So I think that DfE want to encourage businesses and colleges etc to use grade 4 as the same benchmark / min requirement for recruitment. But businesses and colleges are all going "well yes, we accepted Cs, but actually those with low Cs struggled, so let's up it to 5." So it's not the government doing it per se, but actually it was a pretty obvious consequence of the change. And just suggesting that businesses and colleges don't change to using Grade five is clearly not going to stop them making the change.

mumsneedwine · 06/03/2017 22:25

I am telling my kids not listen to anything about new grades. Poor things are stressed enough what with having to tackle stuff that used to be on 2nd year of A level. It's total crap - sorry but I'm sitting here marking papers for year 11 maths and knowing I'm going to have to try again to explain inverse functions and iteration - with 15 year olds. For the first time ever I'm considering leaving next year - I really can't keep doing this Angry