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,

My nephew revised for and sat a GCSE last year and got a 6. This year for the remainder he was given seven 9's and and an 8. Now he's bright, but really?

But really? yeah, really. Think it through, my nephew took an exam a year early and got a 6, then the rest a year later, and managed 7s, 8s and two 9s. Did he get brighter in that year? Well yes, obviously, cos he had an extra year and the early exam he got a 6 in he only had a year to study for, probably same for your DN.

Should have clarified that the 7 , 8s and 9s were last years results. Not this year.

I'd have been screwed by this, significantly outperformed my predicted grades.

I feel so sorry for the kids but yes YANBU, no-one is going to take them seriously.

Elsewhere there were reports that a pupil in West Yorkshire who was forecast a grade of level 1 in a subject had been upgraded to an 8 after the Ofqual moderating process. At the same school, 12 students studying a subject were awarded results that were four grades higher than the CAGs

Can you imagine the look on that person's face when they opened their results?

I see some pupils got a Grade 6 when they were going to take a
Foundation paper.

None of this is the fault of the GCSE and A Level students who’ve had their exams cancelled. They didn’t ask for this.

Do you have children who were due to sit their GCSEs or A levels this year OP? If so, have you told them what you think of their achievements?

no-one is going to take them seriously

Why?
Don't you hold teachers predictions and mock results as valuable ? I really don't get this way of thinking , mahbe you should home school or change schools if you don't think your kids teachers know their ability

so if no-one takes these grades seriously these kids will never move on to further education, progress to work etc. Its not ideal but its the best they can get in this situation. All have to remain in education/apprenticeships so will in time prove themselves.
Please do not take anymore away from a year group who've already had so much taken away by saying their grades cant be taken seriously.

Again, this isn’t about the grades that were assessed by teachers. This is the algorithm.

I feel so sorry for the students who were good at their subjects and worked hard - dismal to be dumped with the same grades as the kids smoking by the bus stop.

@pollyhampton

Oh piss off. The grades DS was awarded were totally in line with the two sets of mocks he say before lockdown (Dec and March). He has spent all day having people tell him his results aren't real and is totally deflated now, he worked bloody hard all the way up to the cancellation date.

A levels in my dds case, but yeah

I can absolutely see me losing my temper in real life with people who think this is a good idea to say this to me

Of course in real life people are usually too polite/gutless

Yep great compensation for missing out on the end of school parties, the first holiday with friends, the prom, lockdown to protect the vulnerable and elderly, massive unemployment. Doesn’t really matter if the grades are slightly inflated? No.

I worry people won’t take them seriously.

Dd did very well and got 5 level 9’s the rest 8’s. She has been predicted night 8/9’s throughout year 10 and 11. We were expecting 3 level 9’s, one of her level 8’s was a shock (science, 8/8) as this was higher than any grade she has reached, in her mock exam she only go level 5 for her physics paper, got a 8 for chemistry and never sat a biology mock (though was working at a 7). She expected 9’s in english lit, English Lang and History as she has got top marks in all papers but the others were expected to be lower.

Anyway she’s very pleased with what she got, I guess the top achievers will have to prove themselves in A levels.

‘A few people seem frustrated that students won't after all lose out on their grades and opportunities’

A lot of people (i.e parents whose kids haven’t been affected by this absolute fiasco of a system) have shown themselves to be nasty assholes. Lucky? Some of the class of 2020 have been pushed to the brink of suicide recently. And there are still bitches like the OP determined to stick the knife in.
But hey these kids have the opportunity to fuck up their A levels and flunk uni so people can rub their hands in glee then.
Any parent who even THINKS like the OP should be utterly ashamed if themselves 😡

Oh for fuck’s sake. Can you not, just for once, be kind? So what if they might have been a little generous now and again. These kids worked their bollocks off, they’ve been through a fucking awful shit time and all you can do is snipe about possible marginal grade differences. Get a grip.

I just think who gives a shit about gcses in the greater scheme of things, I would struggle to tell you what I even got in mine.

The uncertainy about what was going to happen for months and then the last minute changes has had a massive impact on mental health

Any parent who even THINKS like the OP should be utterly ashamed if themselves

Some parents are probably thinking about their children in other years - such as Year 10 or Year 12 - who will have missed out on half a year of education and who will have to do exams next year - and are wondering how all this will be graded so it's fair for them in the future as well - when employees look at grades etc.

I'm guessing we might have some fee paying parents who feel short-changed on this thread. To whom I say odfod.

There’s some of this kind of attitude every year when the GCSE results come out. It’s almost as if some people feel that the more children fail an exam, the more valuable an A is. If this algorithm clusterfuck has shown us anything it’s how ridiculous the marking system is as a whole. Surely courses like GCSEs that mainly last 2 years should be about gaining broad academic knowledge and showing that you’ve retained and understood it, not about placing children on an ability curve. What’s wrong with pass, merit and distinction? Why do we need to break it down more? Most subjects are dropped after 16 anyway.

twitter.com/RosieisaHolt/status/1296367598343421954?s=19

(posted by FUteams on another thread - just substitute A-level with GCSE and As with 9s)

This hasn’t been our experience, my DS got pretty middle of the road results based on his targets and previous results. He hasn’t got above a 5 in anything and got lower than expected in 2. He’s worked hard and his results are probably fair but he tends to really cram in the last few months so he may have done much better but no one knows now 🤷‍♀️

twitter.com/RosieisaHolt/status/1296367598343421954?s=19

Surely courses like GCSEs that mainly last 2 years should be about gaining broad academic knowledge and showing that you’ve retained and understood it, not about placing children on an ability curve. What’s wrong with pass, merit and distinction

That's a really interesting idea. Along with how maths should be reformed as well to make it much more relevant to real life.

It should be 'yes, this student really gets maths, yes this student is ok at English, this student gets the basics of RE"