TES; top grades fall dramatically at private schools

[Bougiebliss]

Yesterday’s TES

www.tes.com/magazine/news/secondary/levels-2022-top-grades-fall-private-schools?amp

Hmmmm… so what changed in their teaching over the last year?
This feels really distasteful not only for the hard working children in schools that didn’t inflate, but also for those children who got on to courses based on the inflated grades and are presumably struggling.
I can’t help feeling that if this was something local comps had done there would be more outrage.

The thing that worries / upsets me is that no one is that surprised. We expect those with power and privilege to abuse systems that the rest of us try to adhere to on a point of moral principle.
What kind of country are we anymore if we just quietly accept that some children are having the system cheated on their behalf because we feel that there is nothing that can be done about it? It is that feeling of powerlessness that is defeating. Private schools should have charitable status removed, VAT added to fees, and be put under the same monitoring systems as all schools. First there was the Everyone's Invited covering up of abuse claims scandal, now the inflated grades scandal....some of these schools are not fit for purpose.

This shameful episode will give a future Labour Government the right to examine charitable status for these independent schools (and examine a lot more about the way they are run). At the very least they should be subject to proper Ofsted inspections.

A lot of smaller private schools may well fold in the light of the economic crisis. However, it was the the large well known public schools which so blatantly encouraged cheating.
It really does open the gates for a full investigation into the way they are run.
This Conservative Government may not want to stir the hornet's nest but it will certainly be high on the agenda for any future Labour/lib Dem Government

@Teddletime You say that. But lots of labour and Lib Dem politicians and party members / supporters send their children to private schools. Political morals can quickly fly out the window where children are concerned - every parent wants what they see as 'the best' for their child and might opt for a quick fix for their own children rather than trying to sort the problems of education out in long term. It is why there is so little press coverage about these scandals too as plenty of journo's and editors also send their children to private schools. The Times has had brilliant reporting about all sorts of private school issues and scandals over the last few years, they are to be much lauded IMO. Clearly have an editor who won't accept covering things up and who believes that to be quiet is to be complicit.

Sorry @Teddletime -please name these "large well known public schools"that"so blatantly encouraged cheating",that goes against everything that Im aware of at my sons school and from talking to parents who have children at other lwkps... my sons school was if anything overstrict,the small non academic private school down the road however handed out 8s and 9s like sweets,they had never had any child get a complete set of A*s,in 2020 four children were given 12 9s....oddly enough they didnt put that on the school website..

Not lots of politicians any more. I remember the arrival of Tony Blair and the Labour Government and the changes he made straight away to Education funding. Private schools had, up until the then, funding for bursaries for poor families. That went straight away. Money was pumped into state schools. I am more optimistic than you. Comps are thriving in London. It feels like there is real change happening with regard to privilege

@nolanscrack Ah hah, the return of the Eton PR team! Doesn't the school hold its results fairly close to its chest?

@nolanscrack I can only find the 2020 results on their website for some odd reason! www.etoncollege.com/inside-the-classroom/exam-results/

Where did you get your figures from, can you send me a link?

Teddletime

You asked for statistical data and it is there in droves about grade inflation at Private Schools last year.

One of the reasons why I have asked for data is because the last time this came up, I was flamed by a large amount of posters on the thread that stated that 'private schools wouldn't do such a thing'.
And how dare I (and others) even suggest such a thing.

So far though it has proved to be true.

@Teddletime ,so as usual you have no evidence to back up your statement.

Comps are thriving in London.
Yes, in one of the most expensive places to live in the world. So what about the rest of the country?

@nolanscrack Meanwhile, where is YOUR data about your son's schools (Eton) results for last year. They are not on their website. Is there a reason why they didn't publish their 2021 results?

Well, whatever the Eton figures A Level figures were last year, Oxbridge offers are down again this year, forty something I believe. Ah but Oxbridge is so passé, the Ivy League is soooo much better. Yeah, right.

Also they’ve managed to render their pupils 2021 grades essentially meaningless those kids that would have got top marks are disadvantaged in a way as everyone will be 🙄 about the private school 2021 grades. Totally devaluing their achievement.

Somebody questioned the statistics.
Sorry the link is from the Mail but most newspapers have a firewall now.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10482061/amp/Private-schools-gamed-Covid-double-grades-investigation-finds.html

Or the opposite could happen. If people view the top grades as easier to get, it will make those students who grafted to get their grade C and their teachers were honest, people might see them as D grade grades etc. and assume they'd been bumped up.

What is already happening is that unis will make fewer offers to independent schools. This 'gaming' attitude from private schools gives unis the perfect excuse to offer fewer provisional places on the grounds that these schools exaggerate/over inflate grades so they cannot be trusted to to give true representation of student abilities.
It was foolish and short sighted of these institutions to cheat the system.

There's naturally going to be a drop if the higher grades drop. If they are getting less competitive grades, then they will need to apply to less competitive universities. Being in private school has been an advantage for many students during the pandemic but by the times the year 13s (who have just left) hit year 12, most schools, including state comprehensives were offering live lessons and had excellent provision, so the benefit wasn't so divisive. The pandemic for many was negative with little access to technology at home, less motivation and mental health. However, for many of our students this was a time when going out to parties, a big social life, was replaced by more hours for study. Some parents, without the commuting hours, now had more time to spend policing their children's work and supporting where they could. So yes, it's natural that this year private had more competition.

How much of this is driven by the same issue as drove some of the higher TAGs last year? Children have good days, they have bad days and they have to sit their exam on a particular day. If you have a child who you, as a teacher, think is 50/50 for A/B on exam day, which grade would you predict for them? Which grade should you predict for them? Is there any formal guidance or consensus? And what about 49/51? 45/55? 40/60? Where do you, as a teacher, draw the line?

Alternatively, you could interpret the numbers as:

Academies: 23.7% to 35%, an increase of 11.3 percentage points

Comps: 20% to 30.7%, an increase of 10.7 percentage points

Independent schools: 44% to 58%, an increase of 14 percentage points.

Or even:

Academies: 23.7% to 35%, so 14.8% of those who previously did not get top grades improved into the top bucket (35% - 23.7%) / (100% - 23.7%)

Comps: 20% to 30.7%, so 13.4% of those who previously did not get top grades improved into the top bucket (30.7% - 20%) / (100% - 20%)

Independent schools: 44% to 58%, so 25% of those who previously did not get top grades improved into the top bucket (58% - 44%) / (100% - 44%)

Lies, damned lies, and statistics, indeed.

This. They use their tiny handful of bursaries as a ‘public benefit’ which justifies their charitable status - don’t go thinking it’s because they truly care about equality or talent! It’s shocking.

They use their tiny handful of bursaries as a ‘public benefit’ which justifies their charitable status - don’t go thinking it’s because they truly care about equality or talent! It’s shocking.

Not sure what you class as 'tiny' but 10% of our pupils are on bursaries. That's up to £14.5 million of potential 'forgone' revenue over their time at the school (our school is oversubscribed so could fill those places with fee paying pupils).

There's local clubs and schools using the pool and outdoor facilities every night and at weekends. Plus they also provide teaching support for local state schools.

@hop321 all done to secure their tax breaks. And the wealthy 90% benefit from this.

Please don't preach their altruism. They are businesses for goodness sake. 10% of 'forgone revenue' is financially more lucrative than paying tax on 100% of profits, which would be the case if they did not meet the requirements for their 'charitable' status.

You have fallen for their bullshit!

They are businesses, these burseries are given to retain tax benefits which exceed the value of the burseries. The support they give state schools is limited, the clubs using facilities pay.