Ofqual's Consultation on GCSEs and A-Levels 2020

[Iris2212]

Is anyone else annoyed at Ofqual following their consultation results and analysis, as well as decisions about the grading process? Some of their decisions don't reflect the results from the consultation. They ignored the concerns about the August results days and seemed to have vague questions which they are now using to pretend people support their decisions.

Also, why on earth does historical data have more weighting than the actual data about students?

I agree. I wasn't concerned at dd getting results decided by teachers. I thought these would be fair. But I'm concerned that it doesn't matter how hard dc worked, they can only do as well as last year. Surely this benefits kids in grammar/private with stellar results and may disadvantage bright/hard working dc in schools with less stellar results. Yes they can retake but by then they'll not have had teaching in the subject for 8 months and will be busy with A levels.

I'm concerned that it doesn't matter how hard dc worked, they can only do as well as last year

That is not true. They will be using a standardisation model to ensure that, if a particular school's grading assessments appear to be more severe or more generous than others, the grades for that school are adjusted appropriately. This model uses a number of sources of evidence - previous results for the school, prior attainment of this year's students at KS2 or GCSE and those in previous years, and the expected national grade distribution. That is very different from saying that a child can only do as well as last year.

Thanks, that was what i was hoping, although teachers on another thread i contributed to yesterday seemed to have similar concerns to me.

From reading the thread on the staffroom board it seems that a lot of teachers have the same concerns I do.

I've seen a lot of teachers with the same concerns. I just don't understand how Ofqual can keep pretending this is the fairest solution for all students. It is fairest for some - the ones which go to better schools. Do the other students not matter as much then? Do they not deserve fair treatment?

It is fairest for some - the ones which go to better schools.

No. You've misunderstood. Read prh's explanation. Results won't be moderated based solely on the previous cohort's results. There's no advantage or otherwise of this system of going to a better school (other than the general advantage of going to such a school).

If you have a look at the Grades thread in Staffroom though, there seem to be a lot of concerns about this by teachers who are being told by SLT to adjust grades down to match those attained by the previous year group. Even when they have clear evidence of a child getting higher grades, such as Mocks done just before lockdown.

That is not fair. This shouldn't be the case. Clearly a lot of schools are concerned about making this year's grades match previous results.

My ds is distraught. He was expected to get first ever A or A* In his school for Psychology and first ever B or A for German and that now looks impossible. If they peg it to school’s highest ever attainment he won’t get the requirements for his first choice uni.

Now I'm scared. I've read the consultation and I don't understand why schools would be pinning results to those of a previous cohort. But if DD's school is doing this, she will be screwed :-(

I've read the consultation and I don't understand why schools would be pinning results to those of a previous cohort

They won't be - that's the point. It's very worrying if SLT and heads don't realise this.

It will place more weight on previous progress data than the centre assessed grades where there is a big difference between the two. That takes into account changes in cohort prior attainment, but not, for example, a rapidly improving, or worsening, school with similar cohorts.

They have made it clear that the school's previous results are a factor in the historical data used. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/887041/6614-4_Infographic_-_Process_for_awarding_GCSEs__AS_and_A_levels_summer_2020.pdf

titchy it sounds to me as if they shouldn't be doing so, but some teachers are concerned that is what's happening. Perhaps some SLT teams are being over-cautious or misunderstanding the guidance.

The school's precious results are indeed a factor, but the system also includes consideration of this year's cohort's prior attainment, precisely so that a year group that is particularly able, or the opposite, gets fair results.

The rational part of me thinks that DD's teachers and Head all know her very well and would not dream of artificially suppressing her results based on the performance of last year's students. But she needs As to get to where she wants to be. And in one of her subjects, no-one in her school has ever got an A before.

Yes, that has always been clear. If a school that historically has an attainment score of 45 predicts results that give it an attainment score of 70 with a cohort that has similar KS2 results to previous cohorts, the authorities will naturally suspect that the school's predictions are overly generous. That is very different from saying that pupils can only do as well as last year.

It is very worrying that some schools don't appear to understand this. They should not be artificially trying to make their predictions for this year match last year's results.

Thank you prh47bridge for explaining things in plain english. That's what I thought was supposed to be happening.

prh47bridge - thank you - that slightly sets my mind at rest. I suppose 13th August will tell all. DS worryingly resigned to doing Y13 again though.

Sorry I'm joining this thread so late, I've only just had it pointed out to me by another poster.

OP and the others here who have expressed concerns - I share your ongoing worries that this just isn't going to work well. My biggest bugbear is that even though a larger number of respondents to the consultation did NOT agree with the idea of there being no individual appeals regarding the operation or outcome of the statistical standardisation process, Ofqual have simply chosen to ignore that outcome and have decided not to allow appeals regardless.

Given the ongoing uncertainty as to exactly how this whole thing will work in practice, that is of great concern. I've posted my concern on another thread now in the Petition forum titled "Summer A level grades - Ofqual's plans need to be challenged". A lot of people seem to disagree with my views, but the response to Q28 of the consultation which can be found here assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/886555/Analysis_of_consultation_responses_21MAY2020.pdf seems to suggest I'm far from alone in my view.

There are two separate issues here.

Firstly, there are no individual appeals on any grounds. Respondents to the consultation agreed with this by 47% to 42% (Q23).

Secondly, centres cannot appeal against the operation or outcome of the statistical standardisation process. That is what Q28 was about. If you want to see Ofqual's reasons for sticking to their original decision take a look at p18 onwards of this document.

If you're concerned about this year's process for determining GCSE, AS and A level grades, take a look at

www.crowdjustice.com/case/challenge-ofqual/

and also

www.hepi.ac.uk/2020/05/18/two-and-a-half-cheers-for-ofquals-standardisation-model-just-so-long-as-schools-comply/

The key issue discussed here is the plight of the bright student in a school with a weak track record, and the likelihood that the student's grade will be pulled down by the school's history.