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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

GCSE ranking for disabled students.

58 replies

DrManhattan · 21/08/2020 16:04

Sorry another GCSE one.
My son has a disability and he has been ranked against his whole year group. He will come out at the lower end because of his disability. AIBU in thinking this is unfair.
Its burning my head out thinking about it.
Yes - You are unreasonable he should be ranked like everyone else
NO - he should be assessed on his own merits .

Please let me know what you think. No offense taken xx

OP posts:

Silverhill · 21/08/2020 16:11

However he would have performed in the summer exams compared to his cohort (with accessibility arrangements in place) that is the relative performance that should have been reflected in his ranking.

I say that as the parent of a DD who has just received GCSE results which were significantly impacted by long-term illness throughout Y11 and a neurodevelopmental condition which is in the process of being diagnosed.

Silverhill · 21/08/2020 16:12

I haven't voted because my answer is not exactly either of the options given.

beautifulxdisasters · 21/08/2020 16:15

How do you think him being included in the ranking is NOT him being assessed on his merits OP?

If he is lower ranked in the ranking that will be because he is most likely to have got a low grade in the exams surely?

RedCatBlueCat · 21/08/2020 16:18

Ranked on an equal playing field - unfair.
Ranked against his class taking into account modifications that wouid have been used in the exam - fair

HappySonHappyMum · 21/08/2020 16:20

If he'd taken the exams his performance would have been ranked within his school, then by Ofqual and then his results would have been fed into the algorithm the same as every other year. Unfortunately we don't have GCSEs and GCSEs for disabled students in the UK - every child is assessed the same way disability or not.

titchy · 21/08/2020 16:23

Surely the ranking is irrelevant now? He's got the grade his teachers assessed him at. Doesn't matter if he was ranked top or bottom of that grade.

minisoksmakehardwork · 21/08/2020 16:31

Would they have made reasonable adjustments for him taking the exams eg a scribe, additional time, use of a computer instead of writing and if so, where these taken into account when ranking him?

If they were not, then I would appeal the grades and ask for the adjustments to be taken into account.

If they were, then I don't know what recourse you would have other than him taking resits in the new school year to get a more accurate grade.

cantdothisnow1 · 21/08/2020 16:36

How will this ranking impact him? Has it determined how the GCSE's have been graded? I'm not sure I understand enough about the position.

Although generally speaking I am completely on board with the notion that any standardised testing/ assessment discriminates against people with disabilities.

cricketballs3 · 21/08/2020 16:40

How do you know where your son was ranked?

QueenCrystal · 21/08/2020 16:46

Schools took into account any special needs / access arrangements when awarding the grades. Ranking is not relevant as centre grades used (or algorithm grades - but whichever was the highest).

Original poster

DrManhattan · 21/08/2020 16:56

@titchy
He was ranked and this impacted his teacher assessed grade.

OP posts:

spanieleyes · 21/08/2020 16:57

So was everyone else

Original poster

DrManhattan · 21/08/2020 16:57

Thank you for all the food for thought everyone.

OP posts:

Hercwasonaroll · 21/08/2020 17:01

THEY WERE ALL RANKED!!

Literally ofqual asked teachers to grade and rank the students for each subject from top to bottom. The school should have taken into account any allowances due to his disability when generating his centre assessed grade.

WhyAreWeHardOfThinking · 21/08/2020 17:06

We took into accounts access arrangements etc when grading and ranking students; they have these in their mock exams so it is (usually) gives us a good indication of where students will be for their actual exams.

Why do you think that their disability would have caused more impact on a CAG than would happen in their exams?

W00t · 21/08/2020 17:07

If he qualified for additional time in the exams, that would have been taken into account when the ranking was done. If it's a learning disability, that would have affected his performance in the exam in any case, wouldn't it? In my school the second highest attainer has disabilities - physical disabilities- the ranking is done on their academic performance only.

CraftyGin · 21/08/2020 17:09

@DrManhattan

Sorry another GCSE one. My son has a disability and he has been ranked against his whole year group. He will come out at the lower end because of his disability. AIBU in thinking this is unfair. Its burning my head out thinking about it. Yes - You are unreasonable he should be ranked like everyone else NO - he should be assessed on his own merits .

Please let me know what you think. No offense taken xx

He should be ranked with everyone else, but should have appropriate access arrangements to get what is in his head onto paper.

SmileEachDay · 21/08/2020 17:09

He was ranked and this impacted his teacher assessed grade

No - he will have been given a grade, then all students within that grade will have been put in order from most certain to get it - least secure.

But as the government went with the grade in the end, the ranking is irrelevant.

NoSleepInTheHeat · 21/08/2020 17:21

How do you know that the adjustments he would have had (extra time for ex) weren’t taken into account?
How does the result compares to mocks? Assuming he had the adjustments then.

NoIDontWatchLoveIsland · 21/08/2020 17:32

OP I think you have misunderstood the system. It has impacted your child no more unfairly than any other. If he has not done especially well, unfortunately it should be a reflection of how his teachers expected he would do in the exams.

If you feel the standard access arrangements etc (extra time, scribes etc) to account for disability have not been reflected however you should appeal on that basis.

titchy · 21/08/2020 17:40

@SmileEachDay

He was ranked and this impacted his teacher assessed grade

No - he will have been given a grade, then all students within that grade will have been put in order from most certain to get it - least secure.

But as the government went with the grade in the end, the ranking is irrelevant.

This. His original rank is irrelevant. As long as his teacher graded him what he/she thought he would have got on the day that's perfectly fine and fair.

Orchidsindoors · 21/08/2020 17:40

I think its terribly unfair he has a disability. Life is sh*t sometimes and not everyone is an academic. Everyone is different. He is not competing at the same level and none of them are. You cant have rankings for the various disabilities or issues.

PumpkinPie2016 · 21/08/2020 17:57

At our school, we started by giving each pupil a grade based on their mocks/other assessment/our knowledge of the individual. Then pupils who all had the same grade were ranked.

So, your son should have been given the grade his teachers thought was possible.

We had a number of pupils with various additional needs but that didn't automatically mean they were ranked lower. The ranking again was based on our knowledge of pupils - were they working hard/access arrangements etc.

I do have sympathy though -it's not a good way of doing it and believe me, as a teacher, it's horrible having to rank your pupils

manicinsomniac · 21/08/2020 18:01

I don't really understand what you mean.

Do you mean he was ranked by how he would perform in the classroom with no support on an average day instead of being ranked by how he would perform in an exam that he had his access arrangements for (eg 25% extra time, reader and scribe)?

If the former - YANBU. If the latter - YABU.

Orchidsindoors · 21/08/2020 18:03

Pumpkin..why do they have to rank them? And is this knowledge made public,?

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