GCSE summer 2020 thread 6 - Carry on Corona Cohort, Further adventures aboard the Corona Charabanc.

I'm actually glad not to be buying business wear though

Oh good, I thought I was all alone (apart from our DC) in my feelings about schools insisting on the kind of stuff they wouldn't be seen dead in normally (so having to get a whole new wardrobe from scratch) and which, let's face it, most university students will get precious little wear out of for at least another 3 years. I've been to at least 15 university open days and offer holder days over the past few years and at none of the did we see an undergraduate in 'smart business dress' - and precious few academics or admin staff for that matter...

Similar thoughts to Sandy here Wheresthebeach; do not suffer alone. We are here to listen, even if we cannot help. All the alarming reports on mark downs don’t help matters either but journalists do like to use education as major click bait.

DSs school (and all other local sixth forms) can wear anything although this does mean he needs some more clothes

The lack of changing rooms is a nightmare. DD tried a jacket on in the shop floor in a couple of shops and got shouted at!

I havent even started to think about 6th form clothes. DS has one suit already but it is a bit weddingey iyswim.

DD’s school is just doing online results. No jumping photos for them.

She says the CGP Bio and Chem bridging books are good, plus she has some ‘Maths for Chemists’ books - not sure where they’re from.

English is just a monster reading list, so my Amazon account is getting a battering.

Dd has to go in at 10, being later in the alphabet! It will be annoying hearing others' results and having to wait ...

Dd is making heavy weather of the A Level transition work for her new school. It does seem quite substantial but she's getting quite stressed about it and asking me for help a lot - something that has never happened before! She's also feeling anxious about starting a new school on her own. I wish there were a few more things happening over the summer to distract her! She's meeting up with friends a bit now, but it's still a long stretch without the camps and D of E expedition she would have otherwise been doing.

She has to wear uniform so we're shopping for that on Saturday. It's a bit of a pain that you can't use the changing rooms. I'm actually glad not to be buying business wear though, which is what they wear at one of her other sixth form options. She takes ages making decisions at the best of times, so I can just imagine lots of back and forth to shops returning items! At least there are limited options with school skirts..

We had a text from school yesterday telling us to look at our emails - the email said a letter was sent out yesterday.

But I found the instructions on the website...basically they’re split into 4 groups alphabetically with the first two groups at 8am split between hall and sixth form common room and last 2 at 9am.

Luckily for DSs ability to get up he’s a 9am one!

DC's school have advised that students can come into school to collect results in a semblance of usual. They will operate a one way system and enforce social distancing. So pleased DS has at least this small crumb of "almost" normality to cling to. I expect he'll now plan a "post results socially distanced gathering" with his closest friends; but that won't be organised until the day before - they prefer "spontaneous!"

@Wheresthebeach - maybe it would help if you shared your particular worries here? I've also found that saying it out loud (or writing it down) helps. Either it's a worry everyone else has or it's a worry we can help with.

I think my worrying about DD is overshadowed by worrying about DS1 and his A Levels and university entrance. My main worry is that she doesn't meet her high expectations as she is prone to perfectionism. I really don't want her to be seduced into sitting Autumn exams in the search for perfect grades. I just want her to get stuck into A Levels and her new school.

The thing which is preoccupying her at the moment (a welcome distraction) is the search for a Sixth Form suit. We have bought and returned 2 jackets and 3 trousers in search of perfection (recurring theme). I have come to realise that fitting rooms are key when buying a suit!

DD got an email from school about results today too. Option to either go in to school and maintain social distancing or to have an email sent to school email address. DD wants to go in, so I’ll be sitting in the car waiting impatiently.

I got email about results day from DS school. Still going ahead but bookable slots, like a parents evening. They are aware students might want to see each other and there may be some heightened emotion so they want to restrict numbers and keep it safe whilst keeping the sense of occasion.

Sweet of them to acknowledge the emotion.

I think it's really hard right now. I have good days, and days when I really worry. Everything is just so surreal. Fingers crossed Fools that all is okay.

@FoolsAssassin I would be really surprised if GCSEs drop more than 1 grade. There are enough students from most subjects at most schools for the statistical approach to be mostly OK for Y11s. The report which had looked at predicted grades said they were on average 0.5 grades too high, which led to the headlines that 33% would go down, but that means it should only by 1 grade in a third of exams. Don't worry!

Yes, I have got to a place now where if DS doesnt get the grades to stay at his current place OR move to his alternate then we will just have to assess colleges and BTECs etc.

I have reached a place of 'can I control or affect this?' No, not at this point.

Stay positive Fools! There was a lot of scaremongering on that IB thread and I stepped away from it.

DD sat an exam and did an interview for her Sixth Form and thankfully they have said they won't look at grades as they have enough information. I guess the issue might come if a grade is lower than they'd like to see in a subject to be taken at A Level.

I certainly do!
I’m trying to switch off from it...
That said, if a student is pulled down from a CAG of 9 to 7 the centre will be the first to appeal?

Keep positive,Fools!
He’s negotiated the exam and the interview, so they know what he can do when ‘put on the spot’.
Have they discussed what their stance is on a ‘slipped grade’?
DDs new school have said not to worry if a grade is slipped as they know they have not been able to prove what they can do.

Yes, 2019 was 57% for an A.
How big that is depends on how you look at it - 58/52 is 1.115, so you had to get 11.5% more marks in 2018 than you needed in 2017 for an A.

They aim to keep the grade statistics roughly steady although they have been more generous since the new grades came in - so 17.1% got A/A* in 2016, 19.8% got 7/8/9 in 2017, 19.5% in 2018, 19.3% in 2019.

They will struggle to moderate in 2020, but I guess it is likely that they will use the same as 2019, so 57% for a 7, 70% for an 8, 83% for a 9 although that will probably give them a very non-normal grade distribution!

Subjects other than maths and english have less than 3 years of historic data.

But is a variance of 5-6% from 2017-18 a lot?
I think the 2019 grade 9 boundary for maths was slightly lower/on par with 2018?
DDs school applied a 5% increase on last years GCSE papers when grading January mocks.

...... and having been through it all with DS1, grade boundaries can vary a lot to get the split across the grades to where the boards want it. For example, for Edexcel GCSE maths, in 2016 you needed 70% for an A, and in 2017 it was 52% for a 7 (with the new syllabus), and in 2018 58%.

Moderation will be really difficult as I agree with Zanda, it will be people who wanted 8/9 and got 7/8 and people who need to pass maths and english. I also think it is unlikely that people will want to take subjects they are not doing A levels in as they will not have had any teaching for 8 months by November. I think the numbers will be very small.

In my experience (AS levels 2018 for DS1) when cohorts are very small it is not great for high performers as they limit the percentage getting top grades so the boundaries can be very high.

This year, who knows!!