GCSE ranking for disabled students.

[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

Pupils are ranked in achievement. Achievement is based on academic ability.

Disability doesn't always cause academic ability to be low or even low IQ.

Some people aren't academic without disability.

Pupils who have particular difficulties (diagnosed disability or EP report or similar) can have reasonable adjustments in exams.

These should be provided in all formal assessments such as mocks as can only be used in exams if it's the usual way of working.

Therefore the centre assessment grades would be based on achievement with reasonable adjustments in place.

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

Ofqual asked schools to grade, then rank students. This was because when they applied the statistical model, they knew some students grades would be adjusted. To make the least secure student(s) drop down to the next grade, or the most secure move up is the fairest way. It couldn't just be alphabetical or a lottery.

The ranking is academic now because it students were awarded the higher one of their CAG or the statistically modelled grade.

Students can request to know their rank as a subject access request. They

@NoSleepInTheHeat
He got better mocks than the results he got yesterday. I dont understand how this could have happened.

He got better mocks than the results he got yesterday. I dont understand how this could have happened

I’m pretty sure I explained this on a different thread you were on, but I might be wrong.

We were specifically told by the exam boards not to base our CAG on just one piece of evidence. Based on a range of evidence, we had to give an assessment of what we thought students would achieve in the exam.

@DrManhattan

That could be for a lot of reasons. Mocks aren't standardised. Some schools use them as a carrot, some as a stick. Some mark using official mark schemes and past papers. Others use a part paper.

Teachers were asked to predict the grade he would have got had he sat the exam. Did he work hard at school? Perhaps the mock was weighted towards one topic he excelled in whereas the exams are on everything.

Drmanhattan....it will be his grade profile. My child did better in their mock than their overall grade. We queried it and were told it goes on their profile, so had been given lower grades in other assignments and it evened out.

Lots of pupils for lower than mock results. That was a stand alone test. And usually schools use last paper from previous year so can 'guide' students towards specific topics to study.

Final exams are based on whole curriculum and don't cover all areas and cover some in mor detail than others.

They'll also use his ability to recall information they haven't been guided to study because in an exam this is vital.

Do you mind if I ask what disability? It might help me work out your thinking on this.

Thanks for your replies.

Yes he worked really hard but its not that easy for him. I know I need to get over it but its a difficult sell to an upset 16 year old. Thanks all.

With the proviso that somebody has to come last, whatever their circumstances (and some will have benefitted from not having an exam to fail, be too anxious or ill to take or not turn up to), all schools have procedures for starting the appeal process.

Usually, it is the student (due to their age) contacting the school in writing or by email, requesting that the appeal process is started and in your DS's case, stating that their mocks were x grade, their attendance/effort had improved, the PPEs didn't have the special arrangements that were expected at the time of the summer exams, etc. Now, some of those grades were actually a combination of PPE results and aspirational targets, rather than actual grades, but the process will make that clear.

Once the process has started, it shouldn't take too long for the school to see whether there should be an appeal submitted to the exam board and advise him either way, together with a copy of the Subject Access Report (the GDPR rules require it).

A friendly call to the school, asking who you need to email to start the appeals process off, would be the best way to start.

Why do you think it was his disability that meant the teachers gave him a certain grade and not their considered assessment of his likeliest grades? If my ds had been in this year's cohort, I can't imagine that his teachers would have ranked him lower than his consistent class placing/working at grades. Why would they?

My ds *with disabilities, I meant.

@Danglingmod
No i just wanted to find out if the school take into account what he could have done with the extra time he was going to be allowed and the use of a lap top, when they assessed him or if they just graded him without those considerations.

"This means a student can’t appeal because they don’t agree with the centre assessment grade submitted by your school or college. This position has not changed.

“Students will, however, be able to raise a complaint to their centre if they have evidence of bias or that they were discriminated against in the grading process.”

@MitziK There are very limited grounds for appeal this year. Just disagreeing with the CAG isn't grounds for appeal.

MitziK

There is no appeals process for CAGs - students have the option of resitting them in the autumn. That’s it.

@MitziK
Thank you! That's really helpful. We are going to call on Monday.xx

please see Herc’s better response

I would ask the school why his grades were lower than his mocks.

When we were grading and ranking, we didn't do this for a single child at GCSE or A Level. Tbh by the middle of year 11/13 they should be doing full mocks that are properly graded.

When we were grading and ranking we definitely considered special arrangements. For example, one of mine had just done his first mock with a scribe which made a massive difference so that was something we considered even though earlier mocks didn't back this up in terms of grades awarded.

If he'd had those special considerations applied in every mock or formal assessment he ever sat, then that would have formed part of the picture as to his likeliest best performance in the real things. If they weren't regularly giving him his access arrangements, well then, technically, he shouldn't have been allowed them in the proper exams. So, I think you can be assured that they took all that into account.

[quote DrManhattan]@Danglingmod
No i just wanted to find out if the school take into account what he could have done with the extra time he was going to be allowed and the use of a lap top, when they assessed him or if they just graded him without those considerations.[/quote]
With. Because that's the result he would mostly likely have got should he have taken the exam.

Although dangling explanation is better than mine!

[quote DrManhattan]@Danglingmod
No i just wanted to find out if the school take into account what he could have done with the extra time he was going to be allowed and the use of a lap top, when they assessed him or if they just graded him without those considerations.[/quote]
Have you asked them? Mumsnet isn't going to know!

Also, as long as your son has a place at college now, GCSEs become irrelevant as soon as you get the results. Tell him that, praise his hard work, and move him on.

@Danglingmod
I can't be assured by anything! Lol
I can't imagine what those kids doing A-Levels must have felt like before the U turn.

No i just wanted to find out if the school take into account what he could have done with the extra time he was going to be allowed and the use of a lap top, when they assessed him or if they just graded him without those considerations.

They should have graded him with those considerations.

Thanks, people for your input. It's only my job you're telling me how to do.

The 'start the appeal process' means the assessments are inherently looked at again. So any errors can be picked up and acted upon if they fulfil the criteria for appeals. Obviously, there are no guarantees. But not doing it means nothing can possibly change, even if it should. So it's worth it for the sake of a nice email.

I'm far happier if people know that they have been listened to and it was looked at again, rather than telling them out of hand, 'tough luck, do resits if you're that bothered'. I'm really not a fan of taking a 'How DARE you question us?' approach when a simple 'this is how the process starts' answer is far more useful.

The grade the teacher thought he could achieve with his access arrangements in place, will be the one they gave. Ranking didn't count in the end. Do you know what his predicted grade was? I would have expected his CAG to be similar ish.