To be struggling to take this years GCSE grades seriously

[awaywiththecircus]

It’s no the dcs fault but I do think the GCSE results this year will be taken with a pinch of salt. I do feel sorry the the students who would have actually got a bunch of 8 and 9s if they’d sat the actual tests as it seems more than ever are getting those grades this year and it does make you wonder. We’re they not meant to be for the very top percentage of students? I’ve spoken to a parent who is pleased the marks were centre assessed as he thinks his ds probably wouldn’t have passed his maths and English if he’d actually sat them,

The current Year 10's are being given major concessions in many subject's. They will be examined on a reduced syllabus an arts and humanities subjects although maths and sciences will remain the same.

For years now on gcse results day we get told there is an increase in a's and a*s etc, to the point where I think it's a load of bollox.. Children arent getting cleverer. I bet if they had to sit the A Levels of years ago, they wouldnt do quite as well. I also know of a headteachers of an independent school who is well happy with this years algorithm results because this years intake was mediocre and none of them would have done so well normally.

Geez, like the past 6 months hasn't been difficult enough for them with online work, isolation from friends and peers, stuck inside with family endlessly... Cut the poor kids some slack, OP.

The grades won't matter at all in the long run.

other than Maths and English your GCSE's matter for approx 4 weeks ie to get you onto the next step of learning after that no one is interested = same a levels only matter till degree acceptance. Degree lasts a bit longer but once got a year or so under your belt at work then work performance comes into it. We do need to stop making a massive hoohaa over it all its stressing kids and parents out ridiculously and that has more of a knock on

For years now on gcse results day we get told there is an increase in a's and as etc, to the point where I think it's a load of bollox.. Children arent getting cleverer*

There's an argument that children are being prevented / advised from doing certain subjects so only those who are likely to do well end up doing the exams - which has an effect on grades.

There's an argument that children are being prevented / advised from doing certain subjects so only those who are likely to do well end up doing the exams - which has an effect on grades.

Or, as in our school, they encourage you to leave in year 9 to do GCSE's elsewhere, and if you don't you, in year 11 you get encouraged to drop subjects you're not doing well in.

Thats terrible gluteus, but believable. Although it could be argued that the less academic children are advised to do more vocational studies as that's where they are more likely to do well and get a job in.

@Comefromaway

The current Year 10's are being given major concessions in many subject's. They will be examined on a reduced syllabus an arts and humanities subjects although maths and sciences will remain the same.

Yes and how long before these kids become the next target being accused of sitting dumbed down exams and obtaining 'Micky Mouse' qualifications as a previous despicable poster described this years?

The overgraded will soon be filtered out when they get onto further education courses / apprenciships / jobs they can’t perform in. It’s really not a big deal

@Comefromaway

The current Year 10's are being given major concessions in many subject's. They will be examined on a reduced syllabus an arts and humanities subjects although maths and sciences will remain the same.

DS is doing triple science. There is a LOT to learn and remember. It's not so much the exams I worry about - although this is a factor - but the actual learning and subject matter that won't have been covered in depth - which has an effect on potential A-levels - as the learning itself might not be there.

I don't know why they couldn't have carried on being taught via online learning and sit the exams in September. Of course it would have been logistically challenging but it just seems unfair to past and future pupils to have grades awarded without an exam of any sort.

Haven't read the thread.

But does it really, like really matter that much?

I can't think of a way it would. It just gets you onto the next stage and everything comes out in the wash anyway over time.

It might just give someone the boost to their confidence they need.

We all know that exams just mean, well exams.

Good luck to them

Mine certainly was. He had been going to before and after school revision interventions since Christmas til lockdown in March. He's always found school hard and wanted to prove how hard he'd worked. He's an average student even with all the hard work (5/6's) and he wanted to see if he could better his mocks. So yes, not being able to do that was a 'drama' to him.

I do feel for kids in this situation. But someone with this sort of persistence and drive will always shine through whatever they do.

Hope he got results he was pleased with .

Not really sure it matters that much. I'd far rather students got a grade higher than a grade lower.

Yes, some will have got grades higher than they deserved, but does it really matter? Many GCSE students will go onto A levels - if they're not up to the higher level, then they won't get inflated grades again in 2 years will they (unless covid causes exam cancellations again). If A level students get a grade higher than deserved, they'll go onto Uni and in 3 years' time will get a degree based on their 3 years of work, not their A levels. So, for most, in 2 or 3 years't time, this years' results won't really matter anyway.

If grades had been lower than deserved, it's far more serious as students would have their next step ruined which would hold them back from their abilities/aspirations.

I think this is one time when giving the benefit of the doubt is the right thing to do. (Although far better would have been not having the knee jerk cancellation announcement in the first place!).

@chubbyhotchoc

I'm a teacher and I'm pretty sure lots of staff will have inflated grades and others will have aired on the side of caution. The grades this year are 11 percent higher than last year overall so clearly most teachers have been too generous. It was the same crap when we had coursework and controlled assessments. You had some schools and staff doing it properly but a huge proportion downright cheating, others doing it by the book and everything in between. So yes a lot of these grades will be works of fiction.

Agree. At my DS's school the teachers definitely erred on the side of caution. Makes it even more galling to read threads like this one where the OP is crowing about how all kids' grades have been over-inflated . Not here they haven't.

Poor kids.

I couldn’t give a hoot if some students got slightly higher grades. They have had a shit time and they deserve this boost.

@GetOffYourHighHorse Weren't your teens bothered by not doing their exams this year?

I bet if they had to sit the A Levels of years ago, they wouldnt do quite as well.

And if we had to do the exams out now, even given time to study, many would probably win bets we wouldn't do so well either. They have pushed a lot of things down the curriculum, things that used to be O/A level material is GCSE now, they imply many more things rather than directly state them specifications, for many there are more exams for a subject and many are taking significantly higher workload than previously.

Our school certainly didn't mark generously. Ds has been getting 7's and 8's in science tests in year 11. On the last day of school they did a science mock, though not in exam conditions so it didn't count as an official mock. It's the only science exam ds revised for. He got 9 in that exam, proof what he can achieve. Yet he was only got given 6's for science yesterday. So he was a bit disappointed.

He was predicted 7 plus in all other subjects. He was given all 7's and one 8. I think he'd like to have been given the opportunity to get better grades. He is one for not bothering until he really has to. So never revised for mocks.

There's no point in dwelling on what could have been had he taken exams. But the teachers definitely weren't generous at our school!

@chubbyhotchoc

I'm a teacher and I'm pretty sure lots of staff will have inflated grades and others will have aired on the side of caution. The grades this year are 11 percent higher than last year overall so clearly most teachers have been too generous. It was the same crap when we had coursework and controlled assessments. You had some schools and staff doing it properly but a huge proportion downright cheating, others doing it by the book and everything in between. So yes a lot of these grades will be works of fiction.

Some of it will just be the fact that there weren't any of the usual downgrades due to students having a bad day. There was no way for teachers to work out which students would not perform as well in the exam as they usually do.

I know quite a few teachers, and also have a child who received GCSE results yesterday. My child's results were exactly in line with what we had expected based on school reports/mock exams etc throughout Y11 and Y12. Teachers that I know spent a lot of time and effort deciding what grades to give, and this was moderated and challenged in school. They were given little information about exactly how the grades they submitted would be moderated/checked by Ofqual so as they were also mindful that they may be asked to provide evidence to support their assessed grades.

In my mind, the big difference this year is that children haven't had the risk of a bad day when they took the exam (eg. illness, family problems, anxiety, misreading a question etc). However, equally they haven't had the chance to put in extra effort in revision and/or get lucky with the questions and do better than expected.

I wonder if for next year they will look at what pupils normally get, look at the raw scores and then adjust the grade boundaries appropriately to get the approximate amount of 7-9s, 4s, 5s etc as in a normal year?

That won't do much for pupils who have struggled with home learning over the last 6 months though.

So will they look at a school's performance as well?
Teacher assessments?

They have a year to sort it out.

I don't feel that this years results can be compared with past or future years , this year is a completely unique situation . You are not comparing apples with apples iyswim , the grades and assesments have been done completely differently so no historical comparison can be made apart from within your own school , I can't believe that all schools nationally will have adhered strictly to the rules . I do believe that this years students grades may well come back to bite them in the future as unfortunately they will be forever known as the year group who got cag results . Many of my friends GCSE / ALevel kids , are opting to take exams now if possible so they can prove their grades through the normal process , many commenting that they feel they have almost cheated their way to success which is very sad to hear .

do believe that this years students grades may well come back to bite them in the future as unfortunately they will be forever known as the year group who got cag results

And 🤷‍♀️

@peony68

I don't feel that this years results can be compared with past or future years , this year is a completely unique situation . You are not comparing apples with apples iyswim , the grades and assesments have been done completely differently so no historical comparison can be made apart from within your own school , I can't believe that all schools nationally will have adhered strictly to the rules . I do believe that this years students grades may well come back to bite them in the future as unfortunately they will be forever known as the year group who got cag results . Many of my friends GCSE / ALevel kids , are opting to take exams now if possible so they can prove their grades through the normal process , many commenting that they feel they have almost cheated their way to success which is very sad to hear .

Schools are going to be really thrilled about pupils demanding to sit exams for that reason. Not like they haven't got other things to worry about.