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Original poster

Exam Data Nerds step this way

36 replies

noblegiraffe · 23/08/2018 20:41

A bunch of tools for looking at the GCSE data here:

analytics.ofqual.gov.uk

My favourite is this one: analytics.ofqual.gov.uk/apps/2018/GCSE/9to1/
You can look at the distribution of grades for all the reformed subjects which is quite cool, but you can also look at the distribution of grades in a certain subject for pupils who got a particular grade in a different subject or two.

Want to know how many students got 9s in Lit, Lang and PE? It’s 220 out of the 75,740 students who took that combination, so only about 0.3%.

And look at the grade distribution for Ancient Languages!

Also surprised to see that the modal grade for English Language was a 3.

So much fun to be had here.

Exam Data Nerds step this way
OP posts:
EvilRingahBitch · 25/08/2018 14:12

Yes that’s what I expected. Most of the Latin and especially Greek candidates are expecting to get straight 7/8/9s. If you marked the ancient languages to produce the same grade distribution as the whole GCSE population then you’d be seeing a lot of those children getting a random 4 or 5 in amongst their 7+s and any school which gives a damn about league tables would suddenly find them a highly unattractive option.

Dickybow321 · 25/08/2018 12:52

Using the comparison tools the ancient languages kids did amazingly in most subjects

EvilRingahBitch · 25/08/2018 12:09

Capping the ancient language grades would kill them overnight I think. I’m on my phone, but if the data is all that Noble says it is, it should be easy to test the assertion by comparing the average “grade achieved in all other subjects taken” grade for students taking Latin/Greek with the equivalent measure for, say, Spanish, Geography or Art.

Rosieposy4 · 25/08/2018 12:00

Dickybow, a couple of years ago when ofqual were threatening to cap numbers of 8s and 9s to the same percentage for all subjects ancient languages were among the most vociferous protestors, arguing that they had a uniquely able cohort. They won on that basis, as you can see by the graphs.

Original poster
noblegiraffe · 23/08/2018 23:30

Ah just I’ve just done a bit of digging. The modal score from the data in the Ofqual link is 3 for English, but that includes resits, which are notoriously terrible.

When you look at the data for 16 year olds only, the mode is 5, but only just. 19.6% of 16 year olds got a 5, but 19.2% got a 3. That’s still a lot.

Breakdown of results by country within UK, by age and gender are here analytics.ofqual.gov.uk/apps/2018/GCSE/9to1/ - it’s a big document so if you can’t find what you want immediately, just keep scrolling.

OP posts:
snozzlemaid · 23/08/2018 23:06

That's really interesting. Thanks for sharing.

justnotgoodenough · 23/08/2018 22:48

It is interesting. I wish I knew and understood more about data and statisics. I have actually been in tears about the results of my dept tonight, bit knowing the modal score for Eng Lang was 3 makes me feel a little better. That is one of the things I hate most about the system - hearing other students have done badly/that the same students have done worse in other subjects makes one feel a little better - until the guilt kicks in of course.

If the mode is 3, then why is that not reflected in the headline stats that will soon come out?

YouCalled · 23/08/2018 22:25

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.

Dickybow321 · 23/08/2018 22:12

*bog standard

Dickybow321 · 23/08/2018 22:12

The ancient languages graph is vastly different from the other subjects! That is so telling! Big standard schools don't tend to offer this subject!

Original poster
noblegiraffe · 23/08/2018 21:16

On a more dispiriting note, 2000 students got a U in both English and Maths. After 11 years of schooling, to be entered and to fail both

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