To think it’s time to cancel the 2021 exams

[Exams2021]

It just seems impossible with so much disruption and no end to that in sight and also the massive discrepancy between regions. Aibu to think we need to pack in the exams, use teacher asses grades and spend the rest of the year trying to fill gaps so year 11s have the full range of knowledge to allow them to move forward?

My DD was 'given' A Level grades that were below her predicted grades, I worry that my DS will be as poorly treated with his GCSE grades next year if exams don't go ahead.

huge numbers of which will not achieve the grades they could have achieved

This just isn't true. The grade boundaries will be fiddled so that we won't have vast swathes of the cohort failing their GCSEs.

Individual kids might get lower than they could have done, but others will do better.

I think suggesting that they will turn to a life of crime is a bit out-there.

Naive at best, noblegiraffe.

I’m already seeing it in this year’s Year 11.

So many of them have dropped so far behind where they were and are completely disillusioned.

They are starting to truant, not do homework, give out attitude.

It’s a slippery slope for many.

Maybe exams will be cancelled, but the announcement will be made later in the year in order to keep kids focussed?

One of DDs teachers is going to be giving them lots of tests from now on to build up evidence incase the exams are cancelled.

Personally I think they should be cancelled as some have missed much more school last term than others. Although my own DD did badly in the mocks before Christmas, so she is hoping the exams go ahead.

That's always been a problem with lower achieving Y11, Yardley, trying to keep them in school till June. We used to early enter them for maths and English in November in case they didn't make it through the year.

But regardless of how far they have slipped behind, if they sit the exams in June, the grade boundaries will be on the floor to ensure pass rates are maintained.

Appreciate yes, that grade boundaries would be very low.

But surely you can see that the students with lots of home support and privileged backgrounds will be the ones getting the top grades, more so than ever compared to a normal year.

The kids that have been left completely without an education (and that is a sizeable number) have got no chance against that.

But surely you can see that the students with lots of home support and privileged backgrounds will be the ones getting the top grades, more so than ever compared to a normal year.

And if exams were cancelled how would you justify giving top CAG grades to your disillusioned Y11 who are truanting and not completing work?

YANBU. Let's not have the last minute panic we had last summer. They should be cancelled now.

I'm torn here I have twins in year 11 and they have had ok online learning dire at the beginning but got better from June onwards. One has always been "academic" but switched off during lockdown and only switched back on recently for his mocks, but has downgraded his own expectations. He will do well out of CAG ,I think, the other never been as "academic" but does ok, he has realised throughout lockdown if he works hard he can do better so has upgraded his own expectations IYSWIM. He has probably been a bit too late for CAG so desperately wants to sit his exams. So even in one family arguments for and against exams. I also think that whatever they do it will be too late and poorly executed by the government.

You wouldn’t, would you?

The ones who have always been this way, and have never shown potential would not be given top grades.

The ones who were very bright & dedicated, but had no online learning from March to September; have been in isolation for 10 weeks between September and December; and do not have a laptop at home, would be given very good grades.

Would you really rather disadvantage this element of the cohort, than face a few complaints of unfairness from the students who would get good grades anyway whether CAG or exams?

I think that they must be simply because they have been cancelled in Wales and Scotland and the playing field should be level. What has been decided, if anything, in NI?

@SycamoreGap I know how hard it can be to motivate some Year 11’s, (even when they definitely had exams to sit). You might have already, but maybe show him that all Uni medicine courses do ask for certain GCSE grades - this might help to motivate him?

Agree this is dreadful for current Year 12. They had a huge gap between March and September (if they were set work, it would only be the most motivated that actually did it)

If they are year 12 and have chosen to do A levels then it's not unreasonable to expect them to have some self motivation and determination to do well, these are not young children who are going to school because they have to, they are young adults studying a limited number of subjects that they have chosen because of ambition or interest.

If a student is in 6th form and can't motivate themselves to study at home (which is essential for A levels anyway) then I'd question if they were in the right place tbh.

a cohort of students with a slightly over-inflated set of exam results, most of which will do fine at their next stage of life. Those who were really nowhere near their predicted grades will find the next stage very difficult, and may have to lower their expectations

I think having a cohort with more over-inflated results than usual is preferable. Some may get to university and find the course doesn't suit them or they can't manage it but they can always swap to a different course. That has always been the case, even in normal times.

However, I can also see the value in slimmed down A level exams, maybe one in each subject with masses of questions and plenty of choice. It does means it's even more "all or nothing" than usual though, so maybe having some teacher assessment too is needed.

I still can't believe some universities increased their grade requirements for 2021 entry!

If a student is in 6th form and can't motivate themselves to study at home (which is essential for A levels anyway) then I'd question if they were in the right place tbh

And would you also question the adult who says they don't like WFH and prefer the office environment?

No, didn't think so. Why do you expect more of 16 year olds than adults, then?

How on earth could that possibly be fair, Yardley? As in, how could that sort of dishing out of top grades based on subjective knowledge of whether they had any online learning possibly end up comparable between schools or not end up with massive, and I mean massive grade inflation?

And how would it serve those kids well to pack them off to do A-level maths with their grade 7 when actually their knowledge is grade 4 level?

I think sitting the exam and applying special consideration (% increase in score as is the usual process) based on how many periods of isolation they experienced since September would be better than schools looking at kids and deciding whether having access to a phone but not a laptop should drop them a grade.

Johnny had a laptop but only in the evenings and had to isolate for 4 weeks
Katie did work on her phone and had 6 weeks of isolation
Billy swears down he didn't have a laptop in lockdown but he did fuck-all work when back in school too.

Yes, I definitely think they should. Delaying them by 3 weeks is not good enough. There has been so much disruption to date and there’s no end in sight. Pupils won’t be ready to sit exams imo. I really feel for them.

I have a year 13 student, she is more than ready to leave school so repeating the year would mean she would just not! She and so many of her classmates are on anti-depressants and struggling with the extra strain of having missed so many months and the doe absolutely ignoring the topic of upcoming exams.

We are not in the UK though and it does sound like the UK are managing exam years better than here. At least it is teaching these 18 year olds the importance of voting and ensuring that those politicians who do not represent your best interests at this awful time do not deserve your first (or subsequent) vote.

16 and 17 year old are not young adults

I do agree that hopefully they will be motivated doing the subjects they have chosen for themselves and some will be very good at working by themselves (ds2 for example....awesome, ds1 would have been shite at it)

@annevonkleve

If a student is in 6th form and can't motivate themselves to study at home (which is essential for A levels anyway) then I'd question if they were in the right place tbh

And would you also question the adult who says they don't like WFH and prefer the office environment?

No, didn't think so. Why do you expect more of 16 year olds than adults, then?

No, I wouldn't question that as WFH is very different from working in the office.

Being in 6th form and studying A levels requires a lot of independent study as part of the course so that's normal and can be expected of the students.

Teacher here with a teacher husband. Absolutely. Cancel the exams and start planning how to deliver them in 2022 even if we have more disruption. Get a task force on that at the DfE now. It’s what they should have done in March when they cancelled the 2020 exams but it’s way too late now for 2021 and with what looks like a lot of disruption coming in the spring there’s no way exams can fairly go ahead now in just a few months time.

For those saying 15/16 year olds (even 17/18) should be self motivated, how many adults struggle with motivation working from home. How many find there are more distractions? I was a motivated student at O level, but found my A levels hard, lost interest and motivation and failed all 3. Got a job at 18 which involved day release at college and while working gained a degree in Chemistry. To expect all these kids to cope and perform at their best under current circumstances is a joke.
Regarding repeating a year, well my yr11 DD and friends can't wait to leave school and go to college...no way would they want to stay another year and I doubt many would. My only suggestion would possibly be an extra year in 6th form college to plug gaps, repeat exams. So do the A levels over 3 years with catch up opportunity for GCSE content or subjects they failed e.g. maths/english.
I've no idea what the answer is and clearly neither does the government.

@quirkyquails

Agree this is dreadful for current Year 12. They had a huge gap between March and September (if they were set work, it would only be the most motivated that actually did it)

If they are year 12 and have chosen to do A levels then it's not unreasonable to expect them to have some self motivation and determination to do well, these are not young children who are going to school because they have to, they are young adults studying a limited number of subjects that they have chosen because of ambition or interest.

If a student is in 6th form and can't motivate themselves to study at home (which is essential for A levels anyway) then I'd question if they were in the right place tbh.

I don't think many 15/16 year olds (or even older people) would have had the motivation to revise GCSE material for exams that they weren't sitting, and then seek out and complete bridging work for whatever future qualification (which won't be A Levels for all of them) they planned to take. And to study this remotely at home for several months, with no support. This is not remotely the same as additional studying at home whilst taking A Levels, in conjunction with face to fact teaching in sixth form.

There is no way that current Year 12s came into sixth form with as good a starting point as in normal years. And this is nothing to do with them being in the wrong place. Otherwise, why are we worrying about Y13s missing school because of self isolation and not saying if they can't motivate themselves to study home they are in the wrong place?

I think suggesting that they will turn to a life of crime is a bit out-there.

I'm with Yardley, some of the boys in my DS's class are already on a slippery slope. A couple of basic GCSE grades could be all it takes to get them into college and on the right path. Do they deserve them? Maybe not this year but who knows what they could've achieved in a normal year? The potential is there and I think they should be given the benefit of the doubt.

Time to cancel this years exams and concentrate on the yr10s and 12s.

There is no way that current Year 12s came into sixth form with as good a starting point as in normal years.

That's a fair point.