GCSEs 2020

[DrManhattan]

Hey what do you all think about the way the government are grading GCSEs this year.

I have been told by school that there is no point in my 16 year old doing any more work. They wont take it into account
Is this fair?
They have worked so hard since their mock exams and they are going to be penalised now.

My sons college have taken out exam results for this September. They have said that all you need to do is apply for the course and you get to be on it. That was a massive win for my son who has had medical problems this year and missed a ton of school. His predicted grades are good though and he didn’t sit his SAT’s so they only really have those to work with.
It was a huge sigh of relief for me to get that email from the college.

They shouldn’t use any work done now as that’d be so unfair on the mega array of different home lives people have right now.

And all those kids who are panicking thinking ah I will do some work now and they’ll mark me up. Nope

I’m more concerned about the current year 10s and 12s. Huge allowances will be made for this year’s exams cohort and future university applications and employers will be well aware.
By this time next year, this very difficult situation will, hopefully, be a fading memory. I’m not sure equal allowance will be given to those part-way through their courses. Yes, they can obviously keep up with written work via technology and any who choose not to have themselves to blame (assuming access to technology, of course) but for many courses, particularly at A level, classroom discussions are equally important. Many of this year’s year 12s are missing out on those entirely.

L1ve, I think you and I are in a similar situation!

I have a bright lazy boy who ( I still think / convince myself) would've done well in the June exams.

I've told him so. I've told him that being lazy has now come back to bite him on the bum!

I had a message.
I've replied.

Well. According to one of the mums from our school here. One of the teachers said they are still hoping to do the exams. How is that even possible. They have been cancelled. I hope he isn’t telling everyone that or there will be some worried kids out there.

@Myownwendyhouse at my ds's school the year 11's and the year 13's were all called into the school hall on the last Friday by the headmaster and told that as the exams are cancelled, they definitely will not be returning to school this school year, even if other school years returned. No work set either.

@icanbewhatiwant yup. I have no idea what this teacher is talking about. It even says on the DofE website etc that there are no more exams.

chillipeanuts

No “allowances” are being made. You’re implying this year 11 are going to benefit from this. They really won’t at all. Some will get as expected and others unfortunately who didn’t do as well as hoped in mocks will need to take the exams alongside their further education courses. They’ve suffered huge certainty and worry so I’m not sure where there are any huge allowances.

I think chillipeanuts was inferring that current Yr 11 and 13 wont be unfairly disadvantaged due to the strategies put in place, but Yr 10 and 12 might be disadvantaged if expected to sit the same exams as normal but having lost weeks of school time and learning.

@L1vewell

Whatseename

Ok, then apologies, chillipeanuts. I read it that you were suggesting current year 11s would unfairly benefit from this.

All my 11’s friends are so upset that this has happened as they wanted to sit their exams and prove themselves. It’s a tough job to provide reassurance that their results are going to have been earned and deserved and they haven’t wasted their time.

Lotkell That is quite honestly ridiculous. They will not give your ds high grades based on the fact that he has been working harder for the last month before the schools closed.

I don't think it is ridiculous at all. The schools will use all information available to them up until they closed to make the best judgement. How hard they worked in the last month is relevant. DS's school has said they will not just use marks from mocks at Xmas or the resulting predicted grades but will use eg. attendance at subject clinics, work with mentors as well as participation in class and recent homework to formulate a result. They know that lots of students will have a last minute push. The calculated grades won't be able to capture all of that, but will capture some.

I did hear of some parents arguing that their offspring should get higher grades because they had recently employed a tutor who would have boosted their final grades. Clearly they were on dodgy ground (though in some sense they had a point!)

My Yr 11's were gutted. I've spent the last week trawling through their work and trying to predict their GCSE grade based on every piece of evidence I have. I feel sad that they have missed their right of passage. Not sure what results day will look like this year.

If you think things are unfair, then read and respond to the current government consultation here: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/exceptional-arrangements-for-exam-grading-and-assessment-in-2020

You've got until the 29th. It is a bit meaty, but the consultation is pretty easy to do.

FWIW, as a teacher, I do have some concerns about the standardisation process for very small cohorts at A-level, as there can be huge variability between these.

The rumour I have heard re autumn resits is that they will go ahead for most major subjects, but may not happen for minority subjects (e.g. pupils sitting an exam in their native language) where an exam board might have to run a resit for a very small number of students.

The people who have been screwed over the most (IMO) are private candidates- at least all of your children will get a grade!

Sansa so the sciences and English Lang should run?🙏

Thanks Whatsername 177, that is what I meant, probably just didn’t put it very well.

No worries Grilledaubergines. No, I don’t think this years 11s or 13s are being given an advantage at all! All of that hard work then, suddenly, out of the blue the rug’s pulled from under you and you’re deprived of the chance to show what you’re capable of: particularly difficult for those who have put in immense effort since maybe not so great mocks, which now may not be recognised. That stinks and I really feel for them.

I do think though that this will be forever remembered as the year of covid19. Acknowledgement will be given to just how difficult a situation it was for this year’s cohort. I’m not so sure the same will apply to next year’s, whose courses have also been severely interrupted.
Many students will be able to make up for the lost teaching, I’m sure mine will, but they and their friends in similar, supportive homes aren’t the ones I’m so worried for: those from a disadvantaged background may not be living in the right conditions to make up for this lost time and if (hopefully) we’re all through this by the time they take their exams next summer, poorer results as a result of this are likely to negatively affect them for the rest of their lives.

Chilli yes I completely see where you’re coming from. Again, sorry for jumping!

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/education/2020/apr/22/schools-and-exam-boards-undermine-promise-to-pupils-of-september-tests

I do think though that this will be forever remembered as the year of covid19. Acknowledgement will be given to just how difficult a situation it was for this year’s cohort. I’m not so sure the same will apply to next year’s, whose courses have also been severely interrupted

Yes. I suspect they'll just get told they have the summer holidays to catch up. If you're doing something like English lit or history that may be possible, but I think you need face to face for science and MFL.

It also depends if they get back into school after half term. 7 weeks with some online/remote learning isn't too bad but missing a whole term isn't so easy.

I think one of the biggest issues is the fact that the curriculum can not be self taught. Even the brightest pupils are struggling. I am uploading power points, tasks, a screen recording of my explanations etc, but the work coming in is patchy. Then there is the issue of pupils struggling with the routine, having to share laptops with family members, struggling with mental health, just plain not wanting to do it. One of my pupils was repeatedly emailing me yesterday struggling with opening the file I'd sent. Turned out he was trying to do the work on his phone because the family laptop is broken. We are arranging a loan of school equipment but there will be more kids who dont have the equipment and are embarrassed to say anything.

How is everyone feeling now about the upcoming gcse results? The A levels don't seem to have gone so well.

@Appuskidu

How are they being penalised now?

They can’t use anything done at home after the schools have closed as evidence-anyone could have done it.

I have a DC in Y11 and think it’s being handled really well.

Isn't that the same as any coursework they would have done at home anyway though?

@rosiejaune There are very few courses which have a coursework element these days. Some have a Non-Exam Assessment, but this has to be completed in school.

No judging please! My granddaughter got a grade 1 GCSE in maths. I know this is the lowest grade bar a U but believe me it was an achievement for her to even turn up! Can she say that she has got a GCSE in maths on her CV?