Gcse deflated grades

[Zizzagaaaaahttss]

Feeling absolutely deflated today

All I've heard all day long is the amount of best ever amazing grades that the gcse year has been awarded.

My dd wanted to take maths, chemistry and psychology at 6th form

Her predicted grade 7 maths ( mocks came in at 8) - became a 6 even though her maths teacher said it was a certainty in January
Her 7/6 science is now a 6/5
English Lang is down a grade and geography is down 2 grades.

She now can't take maths or chemistry (or any science) a level because her grades aren't high enough.

Last week it was wall to wall doom that a levels students missed out.
Today .... silence..... and I cant even blame an algorithm and we can't appeal either.

I was watching a girl on gmb this morning opening her results saying ooooh grade 6 maths wasn't expecting that, I think i'll do a levels now

If she's staying on at the school's sixth form I would appeal to them for help.

DS2 got 9 in the mock exam for English Lit, actual grade 7. He also got an 8 in the mock in Geography, actual grade 7. But equally he got a 4 in the History mock, actual grade 6.

It works both ways IMO.

You know the silly thing?
The media could have run the happy children, results up last week stories.
This week they could have run the doom and gloom stories.
The general public and the government are totally manipulated by the media deciding what story sells best this week.

The story that isn't selling this week is that of those like your ds
The story of the school which put the cags on the hard side.
Those children are now up against the children with fair cags, those children whose schools gave them the with luck and prevailing wind cags and those that schools just gave top marks whatever.

No it isn't fair.

Just sit the exams in the autumn.

Will school not let her do the a level courses anyway as an exception?

@ZombieFan

Just sit the exams in the autumn.

How will that help her do the alevels she wants to this September

How will that help her do the A-levels she wants to this September
She should be able to find a 6th form/college that will allow her to do the courses, on condition she gets the required grades in her autumn exams.
Alternatively she can do B-Techs that are more suitable to her abilities.

Pretty much same here with my son, all through the years predicted on the high side even 9's in English lit/Lang, which he's very strong in. He's always came strong on the actual exams front, which seemed to annoy some of his teachers (no matter how much I chased him up on coursework/homework). Got mostly 5's with his English Lang 5 and lit 6. But it does feel as you say the opposite for us, he's been taken a grade down on all and 3 in case of his best subject. I have to say this feels a bit of a safe bet approach from the school, eg give them enough to get on the A level courses he's taken. I have to say he's not a teachers pet or one to butter up teachers. Which I can't help but think that such biases may have played a part on an opinion based grade. But all strength to him, he came to me on his own accord and said he wants to sit the two English exams in the autumn, mostly as he feels robbed and would of achieved higher.

I Agree with the PC / politic wind comment. Definitely an element of that going on this year, it seems to creep into everything nowadays.

I saw some kids on the tv and one girl said wow 3 x 9's I wasn't expecting these... so logic says she'd never even been predicted 9's mmm yet my lad was but get 6/5 below his predicted 9's.

@Zizzagaaaaahttss the teacher grades aren’t the one that your DC got. The CAG grade which they were awarded is based on the teacher grade and fitting them into the historical trends. It’s completely unfair as it means, as you’ve rightly said, it’s still not a perfect system.

Example of this is yesterday when a student I taught was downgraded from a 7 to a 6 in my subject. This was because our senior leadership team were worried about being downgraded from the algorithm and so changed/downgraded to pre-empt this. I stamped my feet but to no avail.

I completely understand your frustration and hope your DC can find the next steps that they’ll enjoy xxxx

Also, science and maths A Levels are bloody hard work. Hence the minimum of a 7 to study them.

@ZombieFan

Just sit the exams in the autumn.

In normal school years when kids have been in school up to exams then actually sit exams and mess up on the day, in that circumstance I see how this is good idea. However these year 11s have not been taught since March and even if the ongoing lessons from then was merely revising course content, they have missed alot of teaching. It's not fair to think that is a solution really. Such a shame.

Well she's just got off the phone to college
Geography, economics and psychology it is!

@Zizzagaaaaahttss

Well she's just got off the phone to college Geography, economics and psychology it is!

Oh its nice that she’s picked some new ones that she hasn’t experienced before

My dd really enjoyed psychology A level...well most of it, she was a bit put off by the crime stuff 😀

That sounds positive.

If she is truly happy to change and isn't gutted about the loss of maths or chemistry then it may be that these subjects weren't really for her, so maybe it's all for the best.

If she really wants the maths or chemistry it may be worth a resit.

@SJF1978

Pretty much same here with my son, all through the years predicted on the high side even 9's in English lit/Lang, which he's very strong in. He's always came strong on the actual exams front, which seemed to annoy some of his teachers (no matter how much I chased him up on coursework/homework). Got mostly 5's with his English Lang 5 and lit 6. But it does feel as you say the opposite for us, he's been taken a grade down on all and 3 in case of his best subject. I have to say this feels a bit of a safe bet approach from the school, eg give them enough to get on the A level courses he's taken. I have to say he's not a teachers pet or one to butter up teachers. Which I can't help but think that such biases may have played a part on an opinion based grade. But all strength to him, he came to me on his own accord and said he wants to sit the two English exams in the autumn, mostly as he feels robbed and would of achieved higher.

I Agree with the PC / politic wind comment. Definitely an element of that going on this year, it seems to creep into everything nowadays.

I saw some kids on the tv and one girl said wow 3 x 9's I wasn't expecting these... so logic says she'd never even been predicted 9's mmm yet my lad was but get 6/5 below his predicted 9's.

"teachers pets" and "buttering up" has nothing to do with it.

Unfortunately if your Son doesn't do his homework, doesn't try in class or show it how can I teacher say that he would have got a 9?

For us we had to have proof, either we see that level of work on a regular basis, that the student tries therefore they would work for there exams etc. If the teacher had no real evidence of a 9 how could they put him above students that they have all the evidence of effort, homework, classwork of?

Buttering up doesn't come into it at all, it was a horrific rigorous process.

No she's not 'happy' just accepting that there is nothing she can do.

The college said that normally if they were with a grade (often it could be 1 questions points between grades) they would work with the school to see what could be done

This year so many people have had grade inflation they have just leapfrogged over her.
If she took the exams in November she couldn't start her a levels now

Some of her class got grade 7s awarded, she was obviously just down the line in ranking.

We cant appeal.
Our school must have been one of the stupid ones to play by the rules

If she took the exams in November she couldn't start her A levels now

Of course, but if her previous subjects are really, really what she wanted to do then it's worth serious consideration. Fe, if she is thinking about a particular subject for university.

My DD was predicted a 6 in English, got an 8 in the mock and her result was a 4!
The school couldn’t be less interested. Her grades across the 5 years at secondary school have consistently (apart from in 2018 where it did drop to a 4) been a 6.
The headteacher kindly told me predicted grades are inspirational but can not explain that current and assessed grades aren’t inspirational but has said a 4 is correct.

This has also meant a complete change on what she now has available to her as she was going to take English language at A level and now cannot.
All her other grades make sense based on her current level, predicted level and mock and are generally an average of these three things. The English doesn’t make sense at all.

I saw one school had over 80% of their grades amended after the A level u-turn.

DC's school had 25% changed.

Some schools completely took the piss with their grades but their kids will be the ones with the higher results...

@Fraser1234 I'm sorry its happened to you too.

There was a boy in my daughters year who wanted to take design and technology btech. He needed 5x 4 gcse including 4 / 4 in maths and English He was predicted a 5 in English rewarded a 3 now cant take the course as has to sit the exam in November His life is on hold.
He's the sweetest lad

It sucks big time

'Predicted' grades are often aspirational targets used to motivate students and don't influence the actual result in any direct way.

Centres have had to assess the most likely outcome in the circumstances and rank the whole cohort.

It's not been 'deflated' just because individuals would prefer a better result!

It seems teachers are trusted to guess if they say a child could potentially do very well, but it's unfair if they are realistic and it doesn't fit the parents' wishes.

Obviously my wish is for my daughter to have the best result but one that is appropriate to her ability. For 5 years her “current” grade is a 6, for 5 years her “inspirational” grade was a 6, her mock result was a 8, I’ve never been advised in her reports or at parents evening that this was any different, so why would the teacher suddenly after lockdown think she was only capable of a 4?
This is about using results of the last three years and judging my child on someone else’s results.

Why are we accepting that only a certain % can score the top grade? It makes a mockery of the whole system. A child should be judge on their work and their exams not shoved into a grid that brings their mark up or down (both undeservedly).
Why is the system not something like this:
You score 98% or above = 9
Score 90-97% = 8
80-89% = 7
And so on. Why does it matter if 100%, 30% or 3% of the students get a 9, the point is they were successful on the day not judged on other people’s past performance. The system as it has stood for years has deflated and inflated grades putting all children at a disadvantage, those scoring lower unable to take the courses they want and those scoring higher failing at the next hurdle.
Saying that’s unfair on children in the past is like saying we shouldn’t have abolished slavery. Inaction isn’t an option, this has to change to make the results true for the children taking the exams each and every year, not bt of ranking them to make them fit a league table!
Sorry feel quite passionate about this. I might add before I’m accused of being a pushy parent, my daughter also received an over inflated grade which we don’t agree with, if she took that option at A level she’d fall flat so hence I really can’t bear this system regardless of Covid and exams being cancelled.

Schools Still Used the Abandoned Algorithm.

Up to 1,900 schools still used a similar algorithm to the one the government abandoned due to "too many significant inconsistent and unfair outcomes". 1,900 schools sent their CAGs to FFT Datalab who sent back to them, information about how many grades to change to fit their school's 2019 data. 1,000 schools sent them to FFT again to further check their CAGs.

I'm writing to FFT, my MP, Ofqual, my school, exam boards, any journalist whose written about the algorithm. I suggest you share this information and do the same. My child's grades were at or lower than his most recent sustained, attainment grades.

Grades should have been, per Ofqual, "[a CAG] which represented the grade that student would have been most likely to achieve if teaching and learning had continued and student had taken their exams as planned."
AND
"Working At Grades" as well as "Target Grades" (FFT Target Data) were not to be used as per Ofqual, "note that these centre assessment grades [CAGs] are not the same as - working at grades (the grade a student is currently working at) [and] - target grades". Rather, the DfE and Ofqual stated when determining CAGs to use "student's knowledge, skills and abilities in relation to the subject. This evidence should inform teachers' professional judgements about each student's likely performance at the time of the exam."; "those judgements should be holistic, based on the range of evidence that schools and colleges have. So students shouldn't worry about one disappointing mock exam result"; "performance over the course of study"; "review data, classwork, bookwork"; "performance on any class or homework assessments"; "signed off by at least 2 teachers [or an equal] in that subject .... [stating] fairly represent the grades".

Please see the following: ffteducationdatalab.org.uk/2020/06/gcse-results-2020-a-look-at-the-grades-proposed-by-schools/?fbclid=IwAR1i6OB4gEvjEcBa4yCWW9xYW83S5EM1K2WiWanh-BKoqTpo1Q0V2Z9-V1g

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/909035/6656-2_-_Executive_summary.pdf

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/887018/Summer_2020_Awarding_GCSEs_A_levels_-_Info_for_Heads_of_Centre_22MAY2020.pdf

You have to grade against a curve because otherwise a year who got a particularly difficult paper would suffer compared to a year with an easier one. And the only way to standardise the papers to an extent that never happened and there was no variation whatsoever would be to make every exam essentially the same, which defeats the object.

Totally feel your pain.
Having written to Ofqual, aqa, Edexcel and two MPs no one is interested in grade deflation I’m afraid, breaks my heart but my son is in the same boat.... it all depends on your school and whether they decided to adjust their own grades.

Johnson stated the mutant algorithm is gone. It is not. The ‘Mutant’ Algorithm is still being used on tens of thousands of state schools’ 2020 GCSE students. The government dumped its algorithm but yesterday, it quietly permitted another, nearly identical one to be declared, ‘[not an error]’. They are most likely referring to the FFT data analysis that up to 1,900 schools used. See ffteducationdatalab.org.uk/2020/06/gcse-results-2020-a-look-at-the-grades-proposed-by-schools/?fbclid=IwAR1i6OB4gEvjEcBa4yCWW9xYW83S5EM1K2WiWanh-BKoqTpo1Q0V2Z9-V1g

The government’s abandoned algorithm placed weight on 2017-2019 historical performance, school-level data. FFT placed weight on 2019 historical performance, school-level data. Per the Department for Education, the government algorithm resulted “in more significant inconsistencies than can be resolved through an appeals process” and “the process of allocating grades resulted in more inconsistency and unfairness”. FFT’s certainly resulted in the same biased results yet Ofqual just published the following regarding appeals, “A school or college that took into account the distribution of centre assessment grades compared with grades achieved by the centre’s students in previous years will have acted within the guidance. The taking into account of such information is not, therefore, an error.”

Per FFT, "[schools] received reports which compared the spread of grades in each subject to historical attainment figures and progress data." "We’re going to compare it to published, school-level results for 2019" "The precise reason that schools submitted data to FFT’s statistical moderation service was to seek some assistance in determining what grades to set. Many will have used the reports that they received to tweak the grades they were proposing before they are submitted to the exam boards."

SPREAD THE WORD! LET’S SHOUT LOUD ABOUT THIS INJUSTICE!

Twitter:
@ofqual
@educationgovuk
@BorisJohnson
@GavinWilliamson

Ofqual complaints:
complaints.ofqual.gov.uk/

DfE Complaints:
form.education.gov.uk/en/AchieveForms/?form_uri=sandbox-publish:AF-Process-f1453496-7d8a-463f-9f33-1da2ac47ed76/AF-Stage-1e64d4cc-25fb-499a-a8d7-74e98203ac00/definition.json&redirectlink=%2Fen&cancelRedirectLink=%2Fen