A’Level disasters 😔😣

[OverTheRainbow88]

Any other schools been majorly hit?

My daughter was pretty lucky. She got A A and a high B in her mocks. She was predicted A A* A. She received 3 As, which she was happy with anyway. But some of her friends were right shafted.

It seems to me that many Universities' are being very unfair too, given that they are all aware of the circumstances leading to the downgrading of results. I feel very sad for the young people who did not get the results they deserve and the Government will do well to remember that they have shafted many young people who will be eligible to vote in the next election. They will not forgive or forget in a hurry!

It might have caused a problem for a few universities although probably not too bad considering it is a low birth rate year and fewer international students.

More than a few universities. Overall the increase in grades already means that many higher ranked universities are exceeding the number caps agreed with the government. Had grades not been moderated down, the top universities would have been 20-40% over number caps, as they rely on significant fractions of home/EU students missing their offers.

The point of moderation was to make sure that only students qualified for more challenging courses would get in. Not sure that anyone has confidence that the awarded grades achieve this objective.

There are plenty of anomalies in grades at selective and private schools too.

It might have caused a problem for a few universities although probably not too bad considering it is a low birth rate year and fewer international students.

The government specifically prevented universities from taking more students. Money, I assume. It will beinteresting to see how much money the tax payer is paying for the eat out to help out scheme, versus education (building infra structure in schools, supporting more students at uni)

many Universities' are being very unfair too, given that they are all aware of the circumstances leading to the downgrading of results.

But there are financial penalties to exceeding number caps. What are universities whose courses are full of students who have achieved offers meant to do, given that taking extra students who have missed their offers costs them money? (In a year where international student income is collapsing - and it is international student income that pays the bills usually.)

Here :

UCAS A A A
CAG A A A
Result A* A A

So pretty lucky really except he was in an exceptional year for his school. They have always been exceptional , much higher GCSEs etc . For the record they are a not particularly selective local independent where 1/3 have assistance with the fees .

26% of grades were downgraded, mostly from A* to A or A to B . There are not the massive drops that some schools have reported but more an overall downgrading, no less devastating for being undeserved.

One point that I haven’t seen mentioned is that this group were the first to take the harder GCSE syllabus that was meant to make the transition to A levels easier so we could have expected an uplift in performance anyway .

My DD got a flat no when she tried through clearing - it was a flat No.

More than a few universities. Overall the increase in grades already means that many higher ranked universities are exceeding the number caps agreed with the government. Had grades not been moderated down, the top universities would have been 20-40% over number caps, as they rely on significant fractions of home/EU students missing their offers.

Given many EU students won't be coming this year they wouldn't have been that oversubscibed.

In support of what chocolatewombat said:

In 2014 the number of students actually obtaining their predicted marks were quite low:
www.timeshighereducation.com/news/a-level-students-increasingly-missing-predicted-mark/2017658.article

twitter.com/lewis_goodall/status/1294031847719088128?s=21

“The government have prioritised the integrity of the system over children”

Something else that's puzzling me.

The whole algorithm cannot have taken into account that a few very bright children can lift their whole class to new heights.

Years back, my small school, which had never had an Oxbridge applicant let alone a successful one, acquired an ambitious and able mathematician. She raised expectations so that suddenly getting 100% in every maths test wasn't an outlandish event but an aspiration. Four of us went to Cambridge and two to Oxford that year, IIRC.

@Lua predictions are not the same as CAGS

One other thing to add is what would the damage have been if this years results were over inflated?

It would have seriously disadvantaged students at schools which were more cautious with their CAGs.

But schools that were cautious have also had grades pulled down in a way that isn't matching with anything that OFQUAL have released. If our results matched with what they said had happened I wouldn't be anywhere near as angry as I am.

@GrammarTeacher

But schools that were cautious have also had grades pulled down in a way that isn't matching with anything that OFQUAL have released. If our results matched with what they said had happened I wouldn't be anywhere near as angry as I am.

Fully in agreement here. We were cautious, and we've still been screwed over.

@HipTightOnions

One other thing to add is what would the damage have been if this years results were over inflated?

It would have seriously disadvantaged students at schools which were more cautious with their CAGs.

Which is why I also said in my post, which you didn't quote is that schools who had inflated results should have been investigated and adjusted independently.

My son's private school has results lower than any of the past three years in some subjects. Whatever it is that is driving up private school's results, I can assure you it is not across all private schools.

So in some schools the CAG result is the same as the UCAS result. Yet I’ve read that UCAS results are assumed to be overstated. So if the Govt decide to award the results on the CAG that’s not going to be fair either.

@GrammarTeacher

But schools that were cautious have also had grades pulled down in a way that isn't matching with anything that OFQUAL have released. If our results matched with what they said had happened I wouldn't be anywhere near as angry as I am.

Does this mean that your school’s results are significantly lower than previous years’?

We have had a fair number of grades adjusted (it seems we were not quite as strict with ourselves as we set out to be!) but overall our results are just about where we might reasonably have expected them to be.

@Toptotoeunicolour

My son's private school has results lower than any of the past three years in some subjects. Whatever it is that is driving up private school's results, I can assure you it is not across all private schools.

I note "in some subjects" - just a suspicion that these subjects may have had in excess of 15 students and thus fell under the algorithm rather than CAGS?

A big reason why independent schools have done better is because their lower class sizes increased the number of grades awarded via CAGS rather than the algorithm.

Which is why I also said in my post, which you didn't quote is that schools who had inflated results should have been investigated and adjusted independently.

I agree with this - it shouldn’t have been left until results day - but I though you were suggesting that over-inflated (your term) results might have been allowed to stand. Apologies if I misunderstood.

I agree in return that any such investigations should have been done before results being released.

Son is at a new free school and this is only their second year of A levels. Last year’s Y13 was much weaker than my son’s year group as evidenced by GCSE results and yet 53% of grades down grade this year meaning that the results this year are actually worse than last year. School previously told that since they didn’t have 3 years of data their predictions would be left alone but instead algorithm has just been bluntly applied. So cross. Son has a place so will be ok but for bright kids in poor performing schools this adds yet another barrier, the best Uni places have gone and those who probably have the least support to Navigate the system are left to get on with it. Gavin Williamson’s statement that this is why there is an appeals system completely fails to recognise this.

It would seem obvious to have approached schools offering “enthusiastic” CAGS differing from past performance and ask for evidence.

I presume those disappointed must have been at the lower end of the subject’s group in each school, given that the teachers had to rank them. I don’t know how that worked, but presumably would have had a more adverse impact on bigger groups of brighter pupils.

Thankfully Dd got her awarded grades and her school didn’t seem to be badly affected (mid sized grammar traditionally high achieving) but a child from a different school here in NI has already started legal action against CCEA. He was massively downgraded from the A he really deserved, presumably because that was not a typical grade for his school.
Good luck to him. Some of our children have been treated shamefully.
I have no issue with moderation but it should use the actual facts not something generated by a computer based on how children performed last year.