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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be struggling to take this years GCSE grades seriously

387 replies

awaywiththecircus · 20/08/2020 20:08

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,

OP posts:
DogInATent · 20/08/2020 22:01

YABU.
More teacher bashing, even if indirectly. MN's favourite topic.

TrainspottingWelsh · 20/08/2020 22:02

Really @Paddy1234?
My dd and her peers were temporarily happy at the reprieve. But once it began to dawn on them they were going to be left in suspense until now to find out how they'd done in each exam, a few months of stress in spring and actually sitting the exam seemed the better option. More importantly they've not only missed out on all the usual leavers fanfare, but all the usual social activities, and know this will continue into sixth form. Mine, and her peers would like to be able to socialise in the way every other generation before her has taken for granted.

The grade inflation is irrelevant because they'll be judged on higher and further education achievements in the future. It's only really relevant for the dc that won't be gaining higher qualifications, and anyone that resents the odd optimistic grade for that ability group is an arse in need of a hobby.

RufustheSniggeringReindeer · 20/08/2020 22:03

@DogInATent

YABU. More teacher bashing, even if indirectly. MN's favourite topic.
Maybe a bit of teacher bashing

A shit tonne of children bashing though

You’d not think that was in the spirit of mumsnet...but heyho

Piggywaspushed · 20/08/2020 22:04

I did new exams in a year in Scotland when everything was ditched mid way through and renamed and weird one off numbered grades given. Everyone said we ere guinea pigs and then that we had special treatment.
How long do you think that lasted for? Literally no one remembered.

Dominicgoings · 20/08/2020 22:06

‘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.’

It’s possible to do all of that without sneering, belittling and bitching about the kids who have gone through this shitstorm.

chomalungma · 20/08/2020 22:06

It would be an interesting experiment if we ditched final exams altogether and just took teacher assessment with supporting evidence to get a final grade.

Gintime74 · 20/08/2020 22:07

Dd got pretty much what we expected, 8s, 7s and 6s. One of the 8s we had thought would have been a 9 if she had sat the exam, one of the 7s probably would have been a 6. All in all, she is pleased with results but feels like she has missed out on so much, the exams, the prom, the school trip, the time with friends.
I feel for them all.

RufustheSniggeringReindeer · 20/08/2020 22:08

It’s possible to do all of that without sneering, belittling and bitching about the kids who have gone through this shitstorm

Yep

Plus...i know this may require a bit of imagination and thought

Some of us have children in this year of exams

And next

Nooooo 😱😱😱😱😱

Namechange543 · 20/08/2020 22:08

Some have been downgraded also. My son sat his maths GCSE last year, a year early, and got a grade 6. He was retaking it this year to improve his grade. Today he was awarded a grade 6. So they are saying no improvement at all in a whole year of studying maths and further maths.

Piggywaspushed · 20/08/2020 22:09

What a nasty and ill timed thread this is.

RufustheSniggeringReindeer · 20/08/2020 22:09

@Piggywaspushed

What a nasty and ill timed thread this is.
Yep
Piggywaspushed · 20/08/2020 22:09

As they do in many highly regarded countries chomalunga!

LunaFortuna · 20/08/2020 22:12

@Piggywaspushed

What a nasty and ill timed thread this is.
Yep - this with bells on!
Sarahbeans · 20/08/2020 22:13

I think the problem is that schools vary so much in their predictions. I would say my daughter's grades were fair and in no way over estimated (I think she would have done better had she sat the exams, but she's a last minute crammer and so that's impossible to predict). However, at other some other schools seem much higher in comparison.

At the school I teach at, the CAGs were massively put up by the algorithm and about 40% of students were given grades higher than we had predicted. There were very real reasons why we had thought this year group wouldn't have done so well, but the algorithm doesn't account for that.

The main problem is that the CAGs have not been moderated so there's no way of knowing how this cohort rank against each other, A 9 at one school is not necessarily the same as a 9 at another. A 7 at one school might be based on better work than an 8 at another.

Even talking to teacher friends, we have all taken slightly different approaches to awarding grades. At my school, I could evidence every grade I gave, but I know a colleague at another school who tried to factor in personality more and who had "spark" and was likely to cram / do well in the end. This is the problem.

Piggywaspushed · 20/08/2020 22:14

lifeafter50, have you told the children you claim you love teaching and their parents of your views??

I suggest you don't.

HPFA · 20/08/2020 22:15

Can we please stop with this massive exaggeration and talk of "mickey mouse" grades.

The percentage of grade 9s has gone up from 4.7% to a massive......6.6%. So the majority of this year's "niners" would likely have got them anyway and I would imagine most of the rest would have got an 8.

DD got a 9 that I suspect she wouldn't have got in the exam but she was certainly capable of getting an 8 in that subject on a good day and all the rest of her marks reflect what she was likely to achieve if things had gone well. How is the teacher meant to account for things not going well? Were they meant to know which questions would have come up?

chomalungma · 20/08/2020 22:16

The Progress 8's will be interesting to see when they come out.

HPFA · 20/08/2020 22:16

Sorry, meant to post the link for the Grade 9 stat:

www.theguardian.com/education/2020/aug/20/gcse-results-proportion-of-entries-with-highest-grades-soars

mrsBtheparker · 20/08/2020 22:16

I think this years students are very lucky to be given teachers predicted grades which are almost always generous.

No they're not always generous but one can only imagine the pressure from that kind of deluded parent who demanded a high grade despite their sprog's ability and attitude. One pupil was given a centre assessment of U, he'd been truanting for 2 years with parental support, but the algorithm gave him a grade!
The next whinge will come when the pupils with these inflated grades start courses that are beyond their true ability and they will expect the course to be watered-down for them. Some will have a whining ticket for life, Covid, the ultimate excuse.

Ritasueandbobtoo9 · 20/08/2020 22:17

I have rtft but what a shitty op. Does anyone care if a kid got a 9 when perhaps they would have got a 8? Is that more important than their mental health? What a shitty time to grow up with sneery twats sneering at something that is beyond the scope of their control. Vile. Good luck kids of today, you are our future, care for us, cherish us, make the world a better place. We love you all.

AuntyPasta · 20/08/2020 22:18

It’s back to this whole nebulous concept of ‘devaluing’ exams that I really don’t understand.

chomalungma · 20/08/2020 22:18

The percentage of grade 9s has gone up from 4.7% to a massive......6.6%. So the majority of this year's "niners" would likely have got them anyway and I would imagine most of the rest would have got an 8

Proportion of 7 - 9's.

According to figures released by Ofqual, the proportion of the highest GCSE grades awarded in England this year jumped by 26%. Based on school-assessed grades in most cases, the proportion of grades 7, 8 and 9 – equivalent to the old A and A* grades – awarded to Year 11 pupils rose from 21.9% last year to 27.6% this year.

That's a big increase.

AuntyPasta · 20/08/2020 22:20

’Some will have a whining ticket for life, Covid, the ultimate excuse.‘

The milk of human kindness pours forth from your merry little soul

chubbyhotchoc · 20/08/2020 22:22

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.

chomalungma · 20/08/2020 22:23

TBH - there were few options.

I just hope that the pupils coming up have the effect of Covid on their education recognised.