AIBU to think Bs at GCSE are ok?

[catwalker]

Some issues with DS and GCSEs/6th form. He didn't get the grades he was predicted (As and As) but then I didn't expect him to as he doesn't put much effort into anything apart from his x box. He got mainly Bs, a couple of As, a couple of Cs and a couple of Ds. I was quite happy until I started reading the secondary education forum where people are tearing their hair out because their dc's didn't get straight As and may have blown their oxbridge chances. I get the impression that anything less than an A just isn't worth the paper it's written on. He could have done loads better but Bs are OK aren't they?

It bog standard just what I call the local comp [you can tell my age now.

Paula, I found that graph quite reassuring actually. If you look at it subject by subject you see that there's a nice neat bell curve of grade distribution which suggests to me that grade inflation (or everybody getting A and A*s) just isn't happening. Depending on subjects, the most grades seem to be at the B or C level, which is where you'd expect to see the bulge so to speak. Physics was odd, but then I remembered that most pupils don't take standalone phsyics.

So as the link shows around 7.8% were awarded an A. The % of pupils who received a string of them would be much lower, I would have thought, as most would have a mix of A,A,B and C's.

PaulaYBF

Over 8 not totally irrelevant as they can be listed on forms ... but the top 8 are used to give the score that then attaches to their UPN

The Physics thing happens because of the way it is studied. I probably have the number of modules wrong but this is the basic principle...

Single Science qualification is based on P(physics)1, B (biology)1, C(Chemistry)1 modules.

Single Science and Additional Science qualification: P1, P2, B1, B2, C1, C2 modules

Triple science - Physics GCSE P1, P2, P3
Biology GCSE - B1, B2, B3
Chemistry GCSE C1, C2, C3 modules.

So when students sit down to do the P1 exam, most people will not get an A, but most people sitting P1 who are doing it as part of triple science will have a good chance of getting an A, as they are the most competent (at Science) pupils). If you saw the bell curve for the whole of P1, it would look like bell curves for other subjects, but if you look at only the results of people who end up with a Physics GCSE it looks skewed towards everyone getting an A. That is because most people who sit physics modules don't end up with a Physics GCSE.

A science teacher could probably explain it in a less confusing manner.

UPN = Unique Pupil Number
UCAS have access related to the UPN

MillyR

You are right ... the Physics graph only relates to those students who have taken the separate sciences ... these would usually be the top 20% ... in my school you need a 7 at KS3 to be even considered for triple science

MillyR the top 2% achieve 10A*'s.

traceyb, no chance at all of that school being bog standard. If it's state then it's one of the small handful of top achieving grammars.

Talker All GCSE's have to be declared on the UCAS form, not just the best eight. But the 'moderator' which is used to adjust GSCE scores according to the average results of each school is based on the average of the best eight GCSE's at each school. So if a student at a high achieving school gets 11A's, he will score one point for each A but will get no 'uplift', since the score for independents and grammars is 0. His total will be 11. A student at a low achieving school with the same results will score one point for each A* but will then get an 'uplift' of whatever figure the system has attached to his school, say three, giving a total of 14. There is no capping off at eight GCSE's as such. But the system is about to change with the introduction of new contextual data.

Yellowstone

Yes, I know ... I was pointing out that the poster in questions "forgetting" some Bs would not work

How does that work for UCAS, Paula? You mean they just lie and then don't hand in the duff certificate at registration at uni? But that would require huge skill in getting all the duff marks with the same exam board - or am I misunderstanding what you mean?

Surely a university can't kick you out for having more qualifications than you admitted to?

A few people seem to think that 'only the eight best count' Talker, I've seen it a couple of times in the past couple of days. So just agreeing that they do, or should, all count.

I'm sure a student must be liable to be chucked off any course if he lies about exams taken or grades. And the school has a legal responsibility to check and sign off the UCAS form anyhow, so I just don't get how it works.

They'd kick you out for lying I guess Milly. Quite right too.

Yellowstone ... only the best 8 do count for some things though
For eg CVA has in the past only been calculated using best 8

I'm only really talking about UCAS Talker, because I can't imagine any kids care less about CVA!

No but CVA affects school standing affects UCAS uplift etc

What is CVA?

contextual value added.it adds in 9 socioeconomic factors and compares schools and performances not solely based on exams.measure of school progress against comparative schools with comparative socioeconomic factors