Government U-turn - A-levels are now based just on teacher assessment

[SorrelBlackbeak]

www.bbc.co.uk/news

Just announced on the Beeb. All A levels and GCSEs based on teacher assessment.

So completely relieved here DS has a decent set of grades from his teacher's assessment. This has been a complete shambles and so stressful.

We have DD3's gcses on Thursday I hope with less stress.

Thank goodness. Dd very relieved.

My fear with this is that the grades are not taken seriously in future. “Oh, you got 8s and 9s but they’re Covid grades so don’t count”.

The principle of having an algorithm was sound, it seems the application was all wrong.

The main point of the results is to get to the next level, e.g. uni, sixth form, a job. In the future it won't really matter what they got.

Excellent news but what will happen to university offers?

So happy here.

As the parent of a child who went to a low achieving school but was doing really well, the thought that their grades may have been based on previous (poor) years was giving me sleepless nights.

I don't have too much with a problem with it for this year, but do worry about how it will affect next year's students both for how their grades are interpreted and whether universities have room for them.

Universities had already said they were minded to bypass the algorithm results.
The need the money, apart from anything else.

Yes, it's just with a lot of places filled and people encouraged to defer, there could be a lot fewer places next year. Hopefully universities will step up then too.

What a shambles, why defend it on Thurs/Fri/sat/sun and then U-turn on Mon?

Perhaps part-time PM Johnson was too 'busy' to decide until today?

It’s brilliant news but I’m a bit confused - did the reaction surprise them?!

Justice has been done.

I really feel for all the kids and parents caught up in this. It has also been a nightmare for the universities.

What a shambolic government we have.

But surely the next chapter will be students who might not already know their CAGs finding out that they're lower than they hoped. Also I'm worried that there'll now be lots of parental anger directed at schools for not giving higher CAGs when the school next door was somewhat more optimistic with its predictions. There have already been reports of schools submitting straight As across the board. Presumably these will now be awarded without question?

fantastic news. DD2 will hopefully get ehr grades lifted. Thankfully her first choice uni was unconditional so she has lareday confriemd that. But my goodness what a shambles! I cant imagine how the whole mess of university places will be sorted out now.
DD3 gets GCSE results this week too, glad they have decided ahead about these, wlthough her (very sensibe!)school had already emailed to say they would be using CAGs to determine sixth form places/courses anyway.

@latticechaos

What a shambles, why defend it on Thurs/Fri/sat/sun and then U-turn on Mon?

Perhaps part-time PM Johnson was too 'busy' to decide until today?

Cummings told him that he wouldn't get re-elected by the public if he didn't so the 1922 committee would kick him out of office.

Doesn't this mean that grades will now be something like 20% higher than last years? Obviously the algorithm that had been used this year was very unfair for some students, and something needed to be done for them, but I don't really feel like this change is fair on previous and future years.

apricot Ofqaul have said students wont be downgraded. Only 2% of grades were increased compared to 39% being decreased.

I agree with your point Sorrel about how next year’s students will be affected. As the parent of someone sitting GCSEs next summer, she has had no teaching since March and must somehow prepare for formal exams starting next May. These students are at a similar disadvantage to this year’s group, albeit in different ways. It’s very worrying.

@puppy23

Doesn't this mean that grades will now be something like 20% higher than last years? Obviously the algorithm that had been used this year was very unfair for some students, and something needed to be done for them, but I don't really feel like this change is fair on previous and future years.

2020 results will be discounted by employers.

Ditto Puppy

For A-Level it's the higher of the Ofqual grade or the CAG grade which will stand. So there will be a some students who have a higher grade than their teachers actually calculated. But imagine trying to reverse those...

Exactly @apricotblossom- some parents will be upset with the school if their CAG scores are low

mosscarpet I know that. My point is that there might now be lots of kids expecting to get their UCAS predictions and they may get a nasty shock when they discover that their CAG was lower than their UCAS prediction. Unless all schools have already now told kids their CAGs.

He’s just a knob. And I’m a teacher, so l know he is!