Wales, GCSEs and A levels cancelled

[Orangeblossom7777]

Just seen this. Wonder what will happen in England. Scotland cancelled theirs too I think, Nat 5s anyway

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-54888376

It's not very clear what they mean by assessments - does look like it could potentially be exams by stealth but I hope not. I have a year 11 and she will do far better in assessments/coursework than exams.

I don't see why Wales can't set the precedent though - why should England?

I agree they need clarity right now over what is going to happen

Yes, i hope it will not be a last minute thing, it is not fair to do that to the pupils. Imagine a few weeks before telling them ok these are your real exams

Mine does better in exams so hoping they will go ahead in some form.

I don't see why Wales can't set the precedent though - why should England?

Should it not be a shared approach perhaps.

Perhaps I'm too cynical but I don't think it ever would be a truly shared approach though would it, with all nations views and particular difficulties being taken into account? A shared approach would mean doing things England's way.

@Orangeblossom7777 Why should it? Education is a devolved mattet.

I understand that however it makes it very difficult with the same exams for one place to go ahead and make changes because there needs to be the same approach to make things fair for the pupils.

I have a year 11 and 13 whose return to education since September has meant more time out than in. And for DS1, still less than half the week is face to face teaching. So not a level playing field.
But they historically do well in exams and want to sit them, and selfishly, I want them to sit them too.
My nephew was 'awarded' several 9's in his GCSE's this year. Most were unexpected. I don't want that for my DC.

I don't get it. It looks like they'll be sitting exams, but randomly throughout the spring instead of in June. So they won't have finished the course, and what will they do once they've sat the exam? Massive holiday?

I have so many questions!

If you've self isolated once you get an extra 1% on all your papers, twice is 2% and so on. Nationwide.
How about some sort of sliding scale with absences verified by the school/college?
And extra % relative to the amount of face to face teaching at A level.

I agree if GCSEs go ahead it is unfair on pupils who have Spent a lot of time out of school isolating. However their is unfairness every year as some kids go to outstanding schools whilst others are stuck in schools ‘requiring improvement’. Not all pupils get the same schooling Covid or not.

I have told my year 11 dc to prepare for both exams and teacher assessments. They are working hard but I don’t know whether it will be enough.

@cptartapp

If you've self isolated once you get an extra 1% on all your papers, twice is 2% and so on. Nationwide. How about some sort of sliding scale with absences verified by the school/college? And extra % relative to the amount of face to face teaching at A level.

this makes no sense.

When dd is at home, she focusses more and works more.
When ds is at home, he doesn't.

So he gets extra marks for doing nothing?

At A level, vast amounts of content are available online tutorials. At 16+ they can access that.

GCSE is a different matter due to younger kids, and more subjects.

@yellowmaoampinball

It's not very clear what they mean by assessments - does look like it could potentially be exams by stealth but I hope not. I have a year 11 and she will do far better in assessments/coursework than exams.

I don't see why Wales can't set the precedent though - why should England?

Yes, what are these assessments? Having a y12 myself, we are finding that there are constant tests, which are actually worse than exams in a way because there is no study leave - DC is having to revise for these 'tests' while going into school, doing other homework, making revision cards, spending 1 hour a day on the bus etc. I wrote 'tests' because I think the teachers are going to use these as assessed work if they are asked to give CAGs in the future, which seems lose-lose for the students. They are being assessed, but not formally told this is assessed coursework or will count towards an exam, and get no allocated study leave. A proper system needs to be drawn up so everyone knows where they stand, what is and what isn't assessed work, whether there will be mocks, exams etc. I thought the proposal for exams to go ahead but with fewer exams per subject sounded reasonable. The exam load in the UK for each subject is very heavy.

For at least some subjects, eventually what will matter is what they know, not their exam grade. If, for instance, they want to do maths at university (other subjects might be more forgiving tbf) but they haven't covered all the A level course, giving them good exam grades because they've had to self isolate, or missed some school, or for whatever reason, is just setting them up to really struggle. I think it's important, in all the talk of fairness, not to lose sight of this.

Maybe there should be some intensive summer school stuff, particularly for those moving from school to uni or college, to prevent them struggling because of this? Though that doesn't, of course, solve the exam grades problem.

I think it’s a good decision. My eldest in sixth form has only been in school for 20 days since September. If other kids have had no disruption then how can this be a level playing field. If you could guarantee all schools could provide on line teaching to the same standard as in school then I might feel differently

Northern Ireland have announced their exams to go ahead in the summer..

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-54882421

Problem is, teacher moderated grades aren’t “fair” either. There is a reason for centrally set, externally graded exams.

@EmpressoftheMundane

Problem is, teacher moderated grades aren’t “fair” either. There is a reason for centrally set, externally graded exams.

And the constant potential assessments, with every piece of work and progress test being potentially included in a teacher-awarded mark, without any time off for preparation or coordination between subjects to balance workload, is actually very stressful, and this stress is not time-limited, it could go on for months and months (maybe even years if the uncertainties continue for years 10 and 12 as well as years 11 and 13). It is a very stressful and anxiety-provoking situation for the students to be in for a prolonged period of time. Like being in exam month, but for months on end, without any study leave and still having to go to school.

Some adults pay to retake their GCSEs every year and have to study of an evening around work. What do you think they should do for them?

@Coffeeandcocopops UCAS grades bear no resemblance to where your child is working- they're merely to open the door of university admissions tutors.

Terrible decision. It does nothing to address the problem of students being prevented from accessing education. Rather it is an attempt to cover this up.

@Orangeblossom7777

*Assessments will be done under teacher supervision, and will begin in the second half of the spring term. They will be externally set and marked but delivered within the classroom. Today I’m pleased to confirm Wales’ approach for qualifications in 2021.

It is my intention there will be no end of year GCSEs, AS levels or A levels exams*

Need to rtft but How is that good? Early assessment then

That was a quote, I'm not really 'pleased to confirm'. Not sure how they think giving less time will help anything, to pupils who have already missed a lot

Must be hugely stressful suddenly being told your exams are only a few weeks / months away. Especially as things are still disrupted right now but may be more stable in the Spring...

Oh I meant to say that not to you op

I entirely agree it sounds crazy and I hope we don’t follow

@fortyfifty

I think GCSEs and A levels need to be treated differently from each other as one is a set of compulsory exams and the other kids have chosen that route post-16.

I do think they need to be treated differently, as they have been in Scotland (the National 5 and Highers) however it's not the case that GCSE exams are compulsory.

@Lemons1571

I think they’ll be cancelled. To be clear, all options on the table are shit. But they can’t get away from the unfairness of a child in a high covid area that’s been in school maybe 8 days since March because of repeated isolations, versus a child in a low covid area that’s been in full time since June / Sept.

We all know that schools should have provided top quality remote education since April. A lot didn’t. For whatever reason, it didn’t happen. There was actually no legal requirement for them to do so until October half term. Forget all the “they should have...”, we need to act on where we are.

It’s not ideal. It’s all a mess. But it’s reality.

Next summer 2021, you can’t have one child who’s been at school maybe a few weeks in total since March 2020, sitting GCSE’s. Sitting there not recognising some of the content that has been missed due to their isolation absence. It won’t fly will it.

But it won’t be any fairer with teacher assessed grades or internal assessments. If kids are behind they won’t do any better in those will they?

Ultimately those kids who want to do well and work hard will do ok. My daughter had to isolate for 2 weeks but made sure she kept on top of her work and asked for it to be sent home. She is self motivated and conscientious.