Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Art GCSE really downgraded but they never looked at the portfolio. What to do next?

85 replies

ihatethecold · 20/08/2020 10:37

My DD was looking at a 7 or 8 in Art, she has been awarded a 5. Its her best subject and she has a great talent and was predicted a much higher mark. When school shut down they didn't request any submissions of work to grade it. 2 years of work in a portfolio for nothing. It's still sat at home getting dusty.

Im so gutted for her. I dont even know what to do with this? Can we appeal?

OP posts:
Nat6999 · 20/08/2020 14:32

Ds got a grade 5 for English language & literature, predicted grade from school was grade 7, he missed the February mocks as he was off with Covid symptoms after returning from Italy with school, so doesn't think he can appeal, on the plus side he got grade 4 for history & computer science which he thought he would have failed.

Bluntness100 · 20/08/2020 14:36

Grades from teachers got internally moderated before being submitted so hers wouldn’t have been the final decision. It’s really inappropriate of her to be engaging in discussion like that

Agree, it leaves the student no where to go. It’s basically saying not my fault mate.

PurpleDaisies · 20/08/2020 14:36

Ds got a grade 5 for English language & literature, predicted grade from school was grade 7.

What do you mean his “predicted grade from school”?

His grade 5 will have been given to him by the school. No results have been downgraded.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

General education Secondary education
StormBaby · 20/08/2020 14:37

My DD is a very talented artist who does portraits for people. She’s walked away with a 3 this morning. She’s devastated.

GrammarTeacher · 20/08/2020 14:44

No GCSEs have been downgraded. Mock results and predictions are NOT the same as Centre Assessed Grades. Speak to your school in the first instance.
For GCSE all candidates got whichever was highest. The grade submitted by the school or the one that came out of algorithm.

Kez200 · 20/08/2020 14:58

Will it affect her future at all?

The reason I say this is my daughter was accepted into Art College for BTEC without even doing Art GCSE. They interviewed her, looked at her work (done at home), and gave her a place. She got top grades and now also has a first class Uni degree in the same subject.

So, maybe she would be best just moving on - getting the place/s she wants on A level or BTEC and really nailing those.

Original poster
ihatethecold · 20/08/2020 15:00

That’s awful stormbaby

Will she appeal?

OP posts:
StormBaby · 20/08/2020 15:02

@ihatethecold I don’t know. We have discussed it. It means she’ll have to do a level 2 course for a year before going on to the level 3, so it’s put her back a year.

DullDullWeather · 20/08/2020 15:10

DS got a 4 in Maths . He is happy and it gets him onto his course at college. For personal reasons he did miss a lot of school at one point so I am pleased for him at the result
For some reason they don't have the English results and will email them.

DullDullWeather · 20/08/2020 15:11

@StormBaby I am sorry to hear that . Flowers for your DD

Itsjustabitofbanter · 20/08/2020 15:19

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Kpo58 · 20/08/2020 15:34

@StormBaby

My DD is a very talented artist who does portraits for people. She’s walked away with a 3 this morning. She’s devastated.
Unfortunately I don't think that GSCE Art and Music care about talent it. You could probably get away with drawing a stickman in Art as long as you can write really well about it.
Kez200 · 20/08/2020 15:44

Are you sure they will make her do a L2 course?

My advice would be for her to put on her big girl pants, grab her portfolio, and arrange an interview at college. Tell them the grade isnt a fair one in her view but shes putting it behind her as lots of things in life arent fair and please will they give her a chance, based on her portfolio, to start BTEC Level 3. She will move to L2 if after the first half term she doesnt prove herself.

Or do 3 years. Its 3 years of free education at a very rocky time for getting jobs. Not necessarily a bad thing!

itsgettingweird · 20/08/2020 16:05

Did school ever see the portfolio?

The gcse that day got lower in CAG than mock was drama. But this is the one where he did actually do his performance before lockdown and he'd done prior ones before.

Arts subjects are usually submitted for external moderation because it's most subjective subject when you submit coursework. Some elements also have exam and it makes a whole difference.

You'd have to ask school. Was her exam work perhaps much lower in standard - it requires a lot more in the way of evaluating and analysing.

For drama my ds had a mixture of technical theatre (which he does well and scored well), written submissions analysing his work (which he does not do well and scrapes passes in English!) and also he acted which isn't what he does in drama usually and he isn't a budding actor!

So overall despite him being able to answer factual questions and create amazing programmed lighting the grade was fair overall across the demands of the subject.

I also agree that she has the portfolio. She can still apply for arts courses if that's what she wants to do. And if it isn't - as harsh as it sounds she needs to focus on what it is she does want to do.

0DimSumMum0 · 20/08/2020 16:26

To be honest I'm quite surprised that her portfolio wasn't submitted. My son did an art subject, 50% of the final grade was on his portfolio work and the other 50% on his final project. Even though they were not at school they continued to work to all of the original deadlines and all boards were sent off to the examining board for external marking as they would have if they were taking the exams. I think something has gone very wrong. I would be emailing the teacher.

0DimSumMum0 · 20/08/2020 16:31

@StormBaby

My DD is a very talented artist who does portraits for people. She’s walked away with a 3 this morning. She’s devastated.
I'm so sorry @StormBaby. These subjects are so intensive this is heartbreaking. I hope it has been a mistake.
Original poster
ihatethecold · 20/08/2020 16:32

I emailed the head of art when school was closing in March because of COVID.
I was astounded that they could mark her without the portfolio.

They responded that if they needed it they would ask.
No one in the year group submitted it.

OP posts:
0DimSumMum0 · 20/08/2020 16:42

Do you know how others did in the same class? The portfolio carries a lot of weight so I would also be wary if nobody has seen it.

itsgettingweird · 20/08/2020 16:47

@ihatethecold

I emailed the head of art when school was closing in March because of COVID. I was astounded that they could mark her without the portfolio.

They responded that if they needed it they would ask.
No one in the year group submitted it.

Yes it wasn't submitted.

What we are asking is have they seen it?

If it was seen they have probably graded it and maybe have a digital copy on file.

I'd be really surprised if a child doing an arts or tech subject didn't show their teacher their work until the last month before exams?

0DimSumMum0 · 20/08/2020 16:59

I know all art courses are different but bare in mind too that sometimes when they say portfolio it doesn't mean the entire 2 years portfolio content. For us it meant a project of 4 boards. Then the final project was another of 4 boards. That was all they were to be graded on in the exam so your DD's mark could have been based on just a few pieces of work.

PurpleDaisies · 20/08/2020 20:02

Even though they were not at school they continued to work to all of the original deadlines and all boards were sent off to the examining board for external marking as they would have if they were taking the exams.

I’m surprised by this. I thought the official line was nothing done after March 20th was allowed to count as assessment evidence.

ThanksItHasPockets · 20/08/2020 20:07

@PurpleDaisies

Even though they were not at school they continued to work to all of the original deadlines and all boards were sent off to the examining board for external marking as they would have if they were taking the exams.

I’m surprised by this. I thought the official line was nothing done after March 20th was allowed to count as assessment evidence.

That doesn’t sound like a GCSE.
PurpleDaisies · 20/08/2020 20:08

Oh that’s a good point, it might have been a BTEC. I don’t know much about those.

Kez200 · 20/08/2020 20:40

I thought BTEC results will be next week. And they arent graded in numbers. They are fail, Pass, Merit, Distinction and distinction star

0DimSumMum0 · 20/08/2020 21:48

We are overseas and our kids have not been In school since Jan so continued to work online until the examinations were cancelled. Definitely GCSE, we just got the results yesterday the same as everyone else.

Swipe left for the next trending thread