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,

Don't belive the headlines there are plenty of kids who have had a unpleasant shock today as the CAG grades have been very low at some schools. Sad that people are writing off children already from this

Chomalunga

Can't work out that increase of 26%? I make it 5.7% increase or am I losing my mind?

It wasn't me that over estimated my kids. The Ofqual algorithm put UP the 9-5 % of my class 17%.
My new favourite algorithm

YABU equating hours upon hours of sitting in an exam hall regurtitating knowledge as the only proof of knowledge.

Additionally here's my daughter's bag of chips for interested parties to crouch and piss on.

Can't work out that increase of 26%? I make it 5.7% increase or am I losing my mind

Well technically there's been a 20% increase in the number of pupils getting a 7 to 9.

@chomalungma

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.

So in other words 75% of the "7 to 9ers" would have got them anyway. And on that basis we declare that all the grades are meaningless.

@Piggywaspushed

What a nasty and ill timed thread this is.

This with bells on, and then some extra bells as well, ffs.

There's a meme going round on social media calling this year's grades 'free' GCSEs and A-levels. These children have worked towards these grades for two years, they are certainly not free. The meme complains about being born too early or late to take advantage of these 'free' grades, ie. year 12.

I can see it will be hard having a tough 6 months with patchy teaching/ online learning, but like a PP said, why rubbish the achievements of others while making your point?

And they are absolutely an achievement. My daughter deserves her good grades and they reflect her last two years work and mock results.

Tbh unless you have a child that was due to sit their gcse or a levels then you can’t possible comment.

Not these kids fault they couldn’t sit the exams that they’ve worked hard for last 5 years.

Fed up with parents like you belittling the results that these kids had no control over.

My dd didn’t get top grades and actually felt hers were fair reflection some maybe she could have for higher on and some lower if she had sat actual exams.

Parents commenting they are meaningless are mean and spiteful and jealous in my opinion.

Been a crap year for lots people, last thing these kids need is adults around telling them their grades mean shite.

My daughter got lower grades today than both her mocks and predicted. Not sure if it’s because she is on SEND register or be used her school (large comp) didn’t do that well overall last year.

The longer the pandemic rumbles on, the nastier people are getting.

@AHippoNamedBooBooButt

I'm a TA in a secondary school and I support students with SEN. I remember speaking to one very bright, but incredibly anxious asd student I was supporting last year. She was having an anxiety attack over her mocks and I just took her aside and pointed out every member of staff we could see (there was quite a lot) and I told her I havent the faintest clue what anyone got in the gcses. I presume they all got c's in maths and English as that is a requirement of our job, but otherwise, I dont know if they were a grades or b grades or just scraping a c because at the end of the day - it really does not matter. As long as you achieve what is needed for the next stage of education or employment, then anything more is really kind of irrelevant in life. So who really cares if all the extra 9s mean some are devalued, what does it really matter in life?

And as pp suggested, some screw up on the day. Last year I had a student who, if applied himself, would get a 3. Should definitely get a 2, but ended up having a bust up with a friend the morning of the exam so wasn't in the right mindframe and just managed to scrape a 1. I would've predicted that student a 2 as that was the level he worked at, obviously some just don't manage it under pressure so going by CAG would always mean most students being predicted what they should get, as opposed to what they do in a normal year

Love this post. So true.

I sat GCSEs and A levels in the distant past. I have A*s in things I forgot before I left the exam room. Can these children read, write, do maths to a reasonable level and remember enough of any subject they’re going on to do at college? Great. This isn’t a normal year, we’re living in a dystopian fiction and Boris Johnson is on charge of the country. I have zero fucks to give about grade inflation.

I don’t think the gcse results being slightly higher really matters, in a lot of cases they are a stepping stone to further education so anyone falling short will quickly identifies.

Nope, still don't get it.

'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'

So 21.9% got them last year but 27.6% this year giving an increase in those achieving grades 7-9 of 5.7%? I still don't know where the figure of 20 or 26 % increase comes from within the article.

So 21.9% got them last year but 27.6% this year giving an increase in those achieving grades 7-9 of 5.7%? I still don't know where the figure of 20 or 26 % increase comes from within the articl

Imagine if 21,900 people got 7 - 9
Then 27,600 people got 7 to 9

It's increased by 5,700

But it's a percentage increase of about 25%

@Piggywaspushed

Me too! The algorithm upgraded a number of my learners and my pass rate rocketed. I’m screwed next year when I will no doubt get a lower pass rate again.

You honestly have no idea.

I work in a large secondary and attached sixth form as a Careers Manager. ...this last week has been horrific. Our CAG grades for GCSE were moderated both internally and externally, we feel confident each child was awarded what they deserve. In what other industry would a professionals judgement be questioned? A doctor? A plumber? A dentist?

This overwhelming desire to kick young people who have all been robbed of a process that has systematically been drummed into them for the LAST 12/14 YEARS as the only measure of success is disgusting. What actual effect is it having on your life OP? Do you, as an adult go around taking extensively of your secondary education accomplishments?

I couldn’t give a fuck if grades were over-inflated this year and I’m astonished at how many griping bastards are bitching and moaning about it. So WHAT? There wasn’t any other realistic option considering there was a once-in-several-generations GLOBAL PANDEMIC that tore a page out of all the plans these kids had. Things that ever other cohort since forever has taken for granted were ripped from them.

And some sniping arses would be happier if they were all marked DOWN?

The grades given today will be taken as seriously as GCSE grades in every other year - as in, no one will give a shiny shite what they were once kids complete their next stage of education.

I have a child in year 11 AND year 10 and the latter is way, way, way more fortunate than the former. My older one was cut off from school like she didn’t exist on March 20. After 5 yrs, and nearly 2 years spent dedicated to GCSE prep.

Some people really, really depress me with their bitterness and lack of empathy.

My dd got her predicted grades .. she has never got less than an 8 in any tests . They sit past papers every quarter at her school and she always nails them.. she deserves her 8 's and 9's!!

The percentage of grade 9s has gone up from 4.7% to a massive......6.6%

Thanks HFPA
That doesn't sound like a lot put like that, does it? I wonder how many kids that actually equates to.
Sky News are not wrong in reporting it being a 40% percentage increase though. It's 40.42 (1.9/4.7 x 100 do I pass my maths now?). It has been a while since I was taught percentage increases!

Yy @mrsBtheparker it's an excellent time to be a teenager, we should have just awarded the top 50% with a pass in maths and English, they don't deserve more when they've all had such a marvellous deal, and they definitely won't be paying the economic cost for most of their adult lives. And don't get me started on the nerve of the a-level cohort protesting about being screwed over when they should have just sucked it up quietly.

Aaah, 2020, the year of 'sucking it up'.

Can they not just set aside this year’s stats as anomaly? Surely a pandemic that requires schools to close and exams to be cancelled is reason enough?

My DS has had the same outcome as Merinocool - he has scraped into college but was downgraded from his mock results in 3 subjects. His results were definitely not inflated and I actually think he would have done much better having sat the exams. From what other parents have said, our school have generally been extremely cautious over their grading.

So how will this feel for DS and others in the same boat in years to come when employers think they've all been given a generous uplift by teachers

It's a mess!