time to cancel England exams?

[winechateauxjoy]

I see that Scotland have followed the lead of Wales and cancelled next summer's exams. Isn't it about time they did the same in England to make it fair for those children who have been in and onut of school like yo yos in some schools?

@BefuddledPerson

I do agree with this whatever happens:

“But the exams can't be considered fair this year.”

[quote BefuddledPerson]@Blackberrycream that is a powerful counter argument to my point of view![/quote]
I was a bit worked up! I do find it upsetting though.
It’s been a hard time for all of them. They were all at home for 6 months. Nothing is perfect and nothing fixes it but nothing has been suggested that is any way fairer than taking the exams.
My son has the cgp books from his school. He has worked through them during school closures.

The difference between schools will be far higher than the difference within schools though. For example, in schools where year 11 are in a bubble and that bubble has been self isolating for two weeks. And, given enough time and thought mock exams could been just one of several pieces of data that could be used for school assessed grades.

My DD is in year 11 and I hope they go ahead! The mocks ansd the lead up to them have been a nightmare (they do 2 sets at her school) with loss of teaching staff/students self isolating etc. If these results get used to assess I'm not sure how well the kids in many schools will do. Last year was different as they had sat mocks before the lockdown happened so although not entirely fair they had at least covered most of the content and there were none of the issues there are now.

@winechateauxjoy

Not all schools start GCSE in Year 9 though - so we are back to the issue of unfairness and lack of level playing fields.

There's always going to be a ' but not all' child or school that can be pointed to. We need to know how far behind kids are and by how much and work from there. It might be a minority. There might be ways to deal with that minority that doesn't mean making it even more unfair than cancelling all exams.

My Y13 Dd doesn't want exams cancelled. She's worked hard and wants that hard work to count. There will be many kids who don't want them cancelled.

We need to know how far behind kids are and by how much and work from there. It might be a minority. There might be ways to deal with that minority that doesn't mean making it even more unfair than cancelling all exams.

Agreed. Just a shame the DFE have only just thought to set up a focus group to look at this. Never mind come up with / implement any solutions in a timely manner.

Does anyone know what has happened in previous years if a student has to miss a chunk of school, for example if they get cancer for example or other health problems or if they have a bereavement etc?

Do they get special treatment, or is it just viewed as bad luck? I only ask, as this happened to me (bereavement of parent), and in those days it was deemed bad luck. It led to missing uni offer so was a big deal.

Obviously these must happen to people every year, so in some ways this year is no different, it just means that possibly more have had to miss school due to isolating.

@Susanwouldntlikeit, "Exams must go ahead and parents should call out those schools which are unnecessarily closing year groups instead of only the close contacts of confirmed cases."

If you really are a teacher, as you claim, then you must surely know that it's not up to schools whether year groups or close contacts are sent home. It is the DfE's decision, after consultation with the Head, who informs them of the required details.

Can I just ask that for students who will continue to A levels: what's the point of GCSE apart from getting the hang of it?

1. Anyone going through should not be sitting gcses - this reduces the burden on marking (either exam or assessment, doesn't matter)
2. Focus could be put on the ones that are actually leaving the ed system.

In theory why we have exams is to measure how they have gripped the topics covered. And to give a numeric grade for further institutions to decide upon intake.

The first point is irrelevant(ish) is a student goes for A-levels and/or can be dealt with when we are back to "normal" and schools get extra funding to get these kids up to standard.
The latter one also can be solved with other measures than a mandatory exam. All their lives have been documented and graded. If a student is a stable 2 (on a scale of 5 - sorry I'm european) then s/he won't magically get a 5 in that subject. So the last x years' grades should be tallied up and teachers can make the call from that info.

[quote CallmeAngelina]@Susanwouldntlikeit, "Exams must go ahead and parents should call out those schools which are unnecessarily closing year groups instead of only the close contacts of confirmed cases."

If you really are a teacher, as you claim, then you must surely know that it's not up to schools whether year groups or close contacts are sent home. It is the DfE's decision, after consultation with the Head, who informs them of the required details.[/quote]
I think we established on other threads that she is most probably not.

No- I am glad that the exams in England are going ahead. As is DS in GCSE year. They actually asked the pupils what they wanted did you know that? they asked for the adaptations which will be given. It is a good plan. Cancelling them could lead to more stress - pressure on mocks and assessments.

@winechateauxjoy

And these differences in the way that mocks have been set illustrates exactly why an early decision would have been best for everyone concerned. If schools know now whether of not exams will take place then there is time to put in robust in school assessments and moderation. It is why last years assessment grades were such a nightmare - rushed through with no proper consideration of how to moderate and compare fairly one school's set of data with another.

The decision has been made. It is just that there is still a vocal group trying to overturn that decision. The idea that there could be a fair, robust and moderated system of assessment in place is really naive. Schools are judged by data and the pressure on teachers to adjust grading is significant. Teachers had to rank pupils. The problems with this are myriad. I think the robust and externally moderated system you might be looking for is actually an exam... As cathpot said, it’s not perfect but it’s the least worst option.

I think the worst thing is the uncertainess! DS just wants to know if they are happening or not!

@TheSunIsStillShining

Can I just ask that for students who will continue to A levels: what's the point of GCSE apart from getting the hang of it?

1. Anyone going through should not be sitting gcses - this reduces the burden on marking (either exam or assessment, doesn't matter)
2. Focus could be put on the ones that are actually leaving the ed system.

In theory why we have exams is to measure how they have gripped the topics covered. And to give a numeric grade for further institutions to decide upon intake.

The first point is irrelevant(ish) is a student goes for A-levels and/or can be dealt with when we are back to "normal" and schools get extra funding to get these kids up to standard.
The latter one also can be solved with other measures than a mandatory exam. All their lives have been documented and graded. If a student is a stable 2 (on a scale of 5 - sorry I'm european) then s/he won't magically get a 5 in that subject. So the last x years' grades should be tallied up and teachers can make the call from that info.

Actually I see it the other way

Exams motivate

This motivation means students gain more before moving up

Do whatever is needed to enable this motivation and adjust for lost time so every student gets to sit the milestone

Blackberry couldn’t agree more

I think the worst thing is the uncertainess! DS just wants to know if they are happening or not!

They have already clarified the exams arrangements though, about a week ago?

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

It was quite widely reported in the press

If you really are a teacher, as you claim, then you must surely know that it's not up to schools whether year groups or close contacts are sent home. It is the DfE's decision, after consultation with the Head, who informs them of the required details. @CallmeAngelina yes and a teacher who is saying ‘hats off to parents who are refusing to isolate their children when sent home in another thread’. Makes me question to be honest.

He's also still waiting for his laptop to help with school work over lockdown/isolation! Getting that sorted would help!

@Orangeblossom77777 - thank you - I'll pass that onto DS. It was over a week ago we last spoke about it as he said his teacher was unsure if they would be doing exams.

The laptop debacle has been a national disgrace. It’s unbelievable that students are still without any means to work from home in isolation.

Yes that was at the end of last week. we are happy with it, DS here gets extra time for slow writing so with the changes should be OK, and takes pressure of the mocks a little.

@Blackberrycream

“The decision has been made. It is just that there is still a vocal group trying to overturn that decision.
The idea that there could be a fair, robust and moderated system of assessment in place is really naive”

Completely agree. That’s exactly how I feel too.

My DS should have taken his this summer and after seeing what a shit show that turned out to be I wouldn’t want them to cancel exams if he was due to sit them this year. Don’t be fooled by the hype of some schools increasing grades, lots didn’t and many kids are worse off than they would have been.

I can only speak for my DS and what his friends are saying (Yr 13).

They do not want exams cancelled.

They've worked damn hard through Covid and have seen the total shit show that happened to last years cohort.

They cannot see how teacher assessment could work robustly across schools.

Frankly I see a lot of opinions on this matter but the one set of people who don't seem to be listened to are the children themselves.

[quote UndertheCedartree]@Orangeblossom77777 - thank you - I'll pass that onto DS. It was over a week ago we last spoke about it as he said his teacher was unsure if they would be doing exams.[/quote]
The exam dates have all been published for some time.