Changes to GCSEs 2021

[SusanAmos]

Hello all,

New mumsnetter here, so please bear with me.

This thread was just to ask what you think of the newly announced changes to GCSE 2021.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/education-55160374

Thanks, Susan

My eldest is in her second year of an extended BTEC diploma. They’ve been messed about since the start of the academic year, and still don’t know which of the changing deadlines is actually solid. She’s fed up to the back teeth of it all.

My daughters was this year and of course cancelled and because she only forms well in exams under pressure she never had the chance to prove herself, her mocks were in Oct 19 so she still had months of teaching left, her school was one of the ones who down graded expecting them to be moved inline with previous years so didn’t over inflate like many schools, still really angry about it so when I read this I had mixed feelings, it’s good 2021 have some the support for the 4 months they missed of course, but the 2020 year were really ‘done over’ and let down.

Thanks

So will schools be required to do more mocks?

@Orangeblossom77777

I feel for now it will take the pressure off mocks in Jan as some schools have been focusing on these in case the exams do not go ahead, which we are finding stressful. So that is a good thing.

Most mocks are completed or like my DS are next week.

I have DC in year 11 and 13 and they are so pleased exams are going ahead. Adjustments shouldn't be across the board though, they should be relative to the amount of face to face teaching missed across the country.
Between them, my two have had 10 weeks enforced self isolation since September, and DS1 is still only in college for two days a week indefinitely. The college across the road however, are in full time.
Handing our formula sheets and reducing content isn't the answer. Bright kids with a good memory in a badly affected area on in a lose lose situation, yet if you're not so smart and have had full teaching since March it's win all round!

Dds school aren't doing A level mocks until March.

We’ve just finished mocks. A big relief tbh

Adjustments shouldn't be across the board though, they should be relative to the amount of face to face teaching missed across the country

I've heard this a lot. I can't for the life of me imagine how it could possibly be done fairly.

I think a group has been set up to address regional disparity. Of course even in on region a school might be worse than another.

I’m not sure how it will be addressed, but they are thinking about it at least.

Mrsmia maybe some sort of sliding scale with extra % awarded for each paper relative to amount of individual face to face teaching time lost (this could be verified by each institution, they have the data).

So since Sept, 1% extra added for every one episode of SI, 2% for two episodes etc. Extra % too given if only in college part time....

@cptartapp interesting idea but would it take into account the quality of Homelearning provided and how well engaged with it was?

The engagement with home learning during the Summer term was quite low, never mind the standard of it provided.

A report from the Sutton Trust found: While it will be some time before the impact on attainment from the current crisis is reflected in official statistics, it is already being seen in the amount and quality of work being received by teachers. Sutton Trust research has found that 50% of teachers in private schools report they’re receiving more than three quarters of work back, compared with 27% in the most advantaged state schools, and just 8% in the least advantaged state schools.16 Teachers in the most deprived schools are also more than twice as likely to say that work their students are sending in is of a much lower quality than normal.

I don't think you could make local variations fair. How could you? How could you explain to a child that their effort is not worth the same as another child's?

Why do we have to have all exams in the same weeks? DS has a 2 hour mock followed by a 30 minutes break and then straight into biology mock. How many of us parents have actually sat two weeks of solid exams?

Why can the exams not be spread out? That would ease the pressure on everyone.

Why can the exams not be spread out?

They need to be marked and I wouldn’t sign up to do marking in summer holiday, especially not after the year we’ve had at school!

Op why would you post a thread criticising teachers on here when at the beginning of this post you said you were a new poster to mumsnet yesterday ?

Is the OP criticising teachers?

MrsMiaWallis yes she posted one on the board. Criticising teachers , mentioning provision in the summer and discussing posts at that time. I did find her posting style on here a bit odd tbh but replied in good faith. Now her other thread has been removed.

Ds doing GCSEs next year. I'm relieved exams will be going ahead as I feel he's not done enough prep for January mocks. I've been banging on about how important these mocks are as they could be his actual exams but now we have a bit of a reprieve to do more focused revision.

susan but they can't account for every aspect of learning. They don't now, e.g. some students have a lot of supply teachers. A national standardised way of compensating students most affected by repeated time away from the classroom and reduced face to face teaching (using data the schools and colleges can verify)is the only way.
Any attempt to level things up shouldn't be on the basis of making exams easier for everyone across the board as the benefit of doing that isn't the same for all groups. It should simply focus on compensation for those having had most time away from school. And that data already exists.

DS is pleased the exams are going ahead, pleased that hopefully formula sheets are going to be given out etc but annoyed that he has been working flat out since March compared to others who have done virtually no work and now they will be advantaged.
His school wasn’t great in lockdown however he did loads of work on his own. Luckily, his school so far have had no cases at all (touch wood) so he has been at school full time since September.