If you have a Y11 DC, what's the school doing about GCSE assessment?

Inky If she gets the grades needed for the next step that is the main thing. Keep nurturing her through.

My Year 11 DD is in the middle of a gruelling 4 week exam period. Exams are coming thick and fast and she’s completely exhausted! I dread to think what the outcome will be as (like most) she’s been hugely affected by the time out of school for lockdowns and the difference in her performance pre and post Covid times is monumental. I feel so sorry for her as she is very unlikely to get the grades she would have done if circumstances had been different.

my DD will have mini exam series for six weeks as of the week of 12th April. They had a mini mock back in November, and have been taking tests during the lessons on some subjects. She has been revising like crazy now - during the 6-week test period, they will not have lessons only revision time when they have no exam

@SaucySarah yes! Places went very quickly for my dds favourite one so she booked on her next favourite. It includes a week’s residential.....

@nancy75 I totally agree. They should have a disaster recovery plan like any company or business...this should be no different.

It is not the schools fault but our government. When asked early on in the year about our year group , they said it was too early to decide...hey presto...no decision made...pass the buck to Ofqual who then gave lots of options to schools and each school is trying to device something different. I know they were trying to help the school but this is so much pressure for all the teachers.

I am calm in front of my ds but am so annoyed but what can you do! Roll on end of May and fingers crossed all our children come through this and enjoy a well deserved Summer!

The dept of Education should have come up with a proper plan for this last summer, ok they couldn’t know 100% that this would all still be going on but surely having a back up plan wouldn’t have hurt?
Our kids have been totally let down

mayneedabiscuit gosh so horrible makes me think you will need to change your usename to mayneedaovodka...

I just don't get it all, there will be massive outrage won't there? What are the students going to left with? Also doesn't it just put some schools in a no-win scenario.

@snowdropsinapril
That's right.
In our school they are using old mock results (first and only ever sat) towards a % of their grade. 40% in English Literature. So a large part of their grade won't even reflect what grade they are working at now. It will drag their grade down for some students.

But as an outside I don't get it - so you have a variance of different schools doing different things and a set of grades will be awarded?

There can't be any meaningful comparison can there?

And the poor students - none of it makes any sense?

If it had be coursework throughout the year it would have been easier as more would have been done by now . If it had been exams only they would be done in 2-3 weeks max . As it stands it is the worst of all worlds with masses of mini tests , many in exam conditions over 7-8 weeks

@mayneedabiscuit, we’ve been very lucky with the school, we got a new (unpopular) head not long before Covid started and she has been absolutely brilliant, as have the staff.
They had online lessons up & running from the start & have gone above & beyond for the kids. The situation is still rubbish but I can’t fault the school at all ( it’s a London comp, not a private school)

*got

@nancy75 wow that sounds brilliant. My DS would jump at the chance to drop the subjects he did well in and concentrate on the ones he needs to.
How have some schools for this so right but others have got this so wrong?
What a shame for the children under even more prolonged pressure than normal.

I meant he had week of mocks last week not last year , under exam conditions and using candidate number

My DD had exams (in exam conditions) as soon as they went back at the start of March, we get results after Easter.
If they are happy with the result of a particular subject & the school feels they can back up that result they can drop that subject & concentrate on bring up the results of other subjects. Not quite sure if there will be more exams - it’s all a bit vague.
I think they are finishing school at May half term, but again it’s a bit vague

@GreenTeaPingPong but in a normal year june would just be some gcse anyway school pretty much finished just going in for exams .
Its normally the time to have off after working hard on gcse etc and some kids do summer jobs and half term week so its not that much different

Also used candidate numbers for last set of exams

My ds had good lessons all through lockdown , the sat online mocks , then had a week of mocks last year and will have more in may, they will use these for evidence firstly along with classwork and assessments to help back up if needed.
We have been provided with raw scores but they won't give predictions , all in all think School are doing well with it and best that can be done this year
Ds is at state school that supposedly requires improvement yet the school provision and management , teachers etc I think have been brilliant

I can't believe this thread. I so feel for the students.

What I don't get is why the exams could not have gone ahead, even if they were online type exams?

It worked for 11 plus and banding tests.
However, I recognised my child is not at secondary yet, but I just can't believe what these kids are having to do or not do, none of it makes any sense to me?

I just don't understand how you think schools are going to be able to put on enrichment with no funding, barely any notice and during the time of year they usually use to sort stuff for the next year. This time will be needed more than ever this academic year because so many plans have been put on the back burner to prioritise assessing year 11/13.

There's plenty out there for kids who want it.

Fun and PE are diametrically opposed for many teens. More enrichment and low cost trips to museums and cultural sites would be great.

My ds has been told he will be assessed by his coming exams...it starts in May and goes on for 3 weeks! There are many days where he has 4 exams in one day.

I have now decided this is an endurance test. I really feel for him as he will be sitting in an exam hall with a candidate number ....roll on end of May 2021!

DS’s school had pretty much decided that GCSES aren’t cancelled and he has 3 weeks of GCSEs in the format of normal GCSEs (eg 2x 1hr 45 minutes papers for sciences etc.) all done in exam conditions. He even has a candidate number to prevent teacher bias when marking. The results will be the grade he gets. I’m not sure what I think tbh as other schools locally are doing small tests (30 mins) in the classroom where dcs are going to be told what they’re being tested on. But I do think ds will be at an advantage moving on to A’levels with this approach. I’ve decided not to compare results between schools as I just think it’s impossible this year.