To ask why mocks weren’t standardised this year

[Howcanidothis3]

Just that really why did students not all do the same papers at the same time this year

@Howcanidothis3

Wales are already doing this btw

Are they? I’m not in Wales but reading what the WJEC have on their site, it doesn’t sound like what you’re describing.

The window for internal assessment, where relevant, will run from 22 February to 23 April. Teachers and lecturers will have some flexibility in choice of materials, which will be provided by WJEC, and will be able to decide when to run their assessments so that they are embedded within the planned teaching schedule. This allows for teacher professional judgement. It will also provide flexibility if there is ongoing disruption. The marking of these assessments will be undertaken by the centre, supported by guidance from WJEC.

I’m not saying they should be standardised completely just doing it at the same time and using the same papers to make CAGs far more proportionate

It would be a lot simpler and more practical if Ofqual moderated random samples of assessments from each school to see if they agree with grades given (you normally look at top, middle, bottom) - which to be honest is exactly what schools expected them to do last year. To get enough markers they'd have to use the exam board markers I suppose. I awarded my CAGs based on the spread of grades from my centre/subject in previous years. Had I known there would be no moderation whatever, I'd have been tempted to be more generous.

That would be doubling the work of the exam board as they would have to write a new paper, mark it, moderate it the same as any other standard exam.
Mocks are just a photocopy the school makes, designed mainly to give students practice at exams and a bit of motivation to revise more. Teachers mark them but there is none of the checking and grade boundary setting of real exams.
I guess they could have brought the real exams forward to December but most students have only had about 2 terms teaching and would not all have covered the same things.
I've no idea how they can realistically grade anything other than potential this year. It's going to be a bit of a farce

I'd imagine some schools may have had too many pupils in isolation to teach and have them as planned.

Non-standard year = non-standard situations all round.

No it would be internally marked

@Howcanidothis3

I’m not saying they should be standardised completely just doing it at the same time and using the same papers to make CAGs far more proportionate

It wouldn’t. It would create a very uneven playing field for students who had missed more teaching. Whether the mock paper is the same or not is pretty irrelevant.

The exam boards could use the backup paper from last year

You can't use the 'same paper'. In my subject there are three main exam boards and two or three smaller ones. They have to meet the same learning criteria broadly, but the courses have different content and the papers are differently structured. So an A* student would perhaps get a B (the same difference as the algorithm!)

Why is every teacher working hours and hours on interpretation and lesson plans every day, week, year and every child being subject to how good they are.

Usually they aren’t. In most secondaries departments come up with schemes of work with lessons that can be differentiated to suit the needs of your particular class.

Your child is subject to how good your teacher is, not how good a standardised lesson plan is.

@Phineyj

You can't use the 'same paper'. In my subject there are three main exam boards and two or three smaller ones. They have to meet the same learning criteria broadly, but the courses have different content and the papers are differently structured. So an A* student would perhaps get a B (the same difference as the algorithm!)

Each exam board can use the back up paper from 2020

It may be that does happen between now and June.
But what you are proposing is effectively GCSEs in autumn. For them to be valid as a major indicator for predicted grades all schools would have needed to sit at the same time or risk papers leaked online. In an ordinary year that would be difficult. Planning exam timetables is a major exercise in coordination between exam boards and schools. Then throw in covid and absences.

@itsstillgood

It may be that does happen between now and June. But what you are proposing is effectively GCSEs in autumn. For them to be valid as a major indicator for predicted grades all schools would have needed to sit at the same time or risk papers leaked online. In an ordinary year that would be difficult. Planning exam timetables is a major exercise in coordination between exam boards and schools. Then throw in covid and absences.

I meant as a back up we are basically having mock results used now only the grades are less accurate

@Howcanidothis3

All exa boards always write up back up papers they could have used all or part of the back up paper from 2020 that was never used

The lead in time for a Summer exam paper is about 18 months so last year's unused papers would have a lot of content not covered in differing proportions by different centres. It would have been almost impossible to adjust the pass marks.

Do they actually write full backup papers? If so, it would be really useful if they released them after the exam period as extra practice papers. Lots of subjects with new syllabuses are really in short supply.

I meant as a back up we are basically having mock results used now only the grades are less accurate

You’re not listening to posters telling you why this wouldn’t be an improvement.

That’s my point why didn’t the DFE tell schools to all do mocks at a certain point and supply one paper for all students to do instead of it varying from school to school

Because not everyone teaches the content in the same order so not everyone has covered the same thing and therefore not everyone can access the same exam paper.

I don’t think you understand how standardisation works OP and besides, hordes of Year 11s and Year 13s were self isolating last term and many mocks that were planned had to be cancelled as a result.

What would have been better (since this thread is all about hindsight) is Michael Gove not getting rid of modular exams, AS modules and large swathes of coursework in GCSE and A Level.

If he hadn’t, both this years and last years cohorts would have had a lot more concrete data to work from.

Well done on your legacy Michael Gove.

What ChloeDecker said, in spades.

I kind of see where you're coming from, OP, but it wouldn't work for all the reasons listed above. Even in my native Netherlands, where there are no competing exam boards and where everyone sits exactly the same exams with the same curriculum, it wouldn't work in a pandemic, because schools would still have the freedom to teach things in whatever order worked for them.

Ok well if it wouldn’t work it wouldn’t work it’s just disappointing there wasn’t a clear plan B that students could clearly fall back on I know there are CAGs but I mean something more concrete

@Howcanidothis3

Ok well if it wouldn’t work it wouldn’t work it’s just disappointing there wasn’t a clear plan B that students could clearly fall back on I know there are CAGs but I mean something more concrete

Agree with you there OP.

Absolutely disgusting that the Department for Education have not thought about this at all. No plans. No contingencies. Nothing.

What the hell have they been doing all this time???

I heard of a few schools that had to send whole of year 11 home because of covid doing the rounds. Some weren't even able to get mocks done

Absolutely disgusting that the Department for Education have not thought about this at all. No plans. No contingencies. Nothing.

Perhaps someone from the DFE could explain what has been going on?

I must be missing something because surely schools would have been mindful of collecting as much data as possible given it was highly likely that the exams would be cancelled.

Whilst I accept some children were isolating and often on multiple occassions, this wasn't becuase they were ill, it was because they were sent home due to contact etc. They could/should have still been accessing lessons on-line or been given work to do. Being at home doesn't mean doing nothing. I'm really talking about 'A' level students here not GCSE as they are younger. I am amazed that schools have hardly any data on students, just why!