‘What does the dramatic fall in GCSE grades tell us? That private schools were gaming the system’

[Bougiebliss]

Carrying on from the A level grades thread
this article was in the Guardian this afternoon, same in Telegraph but I don’t have a token.
it seems like GCSE inflation was more pronounced even than A levels in private school. Maybe some teachers can explain what happened and the difficulties - i did learn lots on the other thread but still left with a bad taste in my mouth about the whole business.

amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/25/gcse-grades-private-schools-inflate-

I'm having to consider private school for my daughter for A levels due to a lack of choice in state schools to meet her needs. It's not always a snobbery thing. I'm nervous about the claims of success though.

In fact, thinking about it, if the private school grades hadn't disproportionately decreased this year, then presumably the Guardian would have been complaining that the government's plan to level the playing field this year had failed. But that's journalists, I guess - you can't win.

Many mums on here are saying that their kid's private school didn't have a large drop in grades, so some private schools must have had very large drops if there was an 8% overall fall; clearly there was something very amiss. It's not about private school bashing it's about fairness and honesty. Children at private schools had significant advantages during lockdown, they didn't need their grades inflated as well.

I totally agree. Some private schools did massively inflate grades because they thought they could get away with it. I don't think anyone is denying that that was wrong. (Incidentally some state schools did too.) But I disagree with the sweeping generalisation in the Guardian that this was the case for most private schools. As you say, there were other reasons (greater resources etc) why private schools might have done disproportionately better last year (and therefore disproportionately worse this year) compared with the state sector.

Our private school just published the last three years results. Interesting that there was little difference in A levels but a slight dip in GCSE grades in 2020 from 2019, but there was an increase in 2021, but this years results have been even better. So I think our private school did not inflate the grades too much.
There have been some shockers though.

I think what it shows is the effect of incentives and pressures on grades. I think private schools have more pressures to deliver to parents as they are paying - so unsurprising that they would knowingly or subconsciously inflate grades.

what does that tell you about grade inflation at universities? There has been much more pressure for this since fees went up.

Yes if I was pr for a school that hadn’t I would jolly well want that publicised!

How will the ones that did that stand up and witter on about worthy values in their assemblies / marketing events to parents…awks as my teens would say!

Schools are Exam Centres. You have to sit formal exams at these centres. There are extensive records kept about performance at these centres. When school departments do their exam analysis, you have to refer to previous performance and also show a comparison with similar intake schools to show if your Department is achieving a value component to your students. All of this data is provided by your exam boards for your centre.
Exam Boards will know which centres cheated and they will have to make future adjustments because they cannot trust a particular exam Centre. It is why it is so short sighted to have cheated. It will penalise future students

I have taught in both private and state schools. It is naive to think just private schools 'gamed the system' and state schools are entirely innocent. All schools are different.
I taught throughout the pandemic. The advice given to schools during the pandemic was appalling. Schools did the best with the information they had at the time. I feel really sad the efforts made by students and school staff who were trying to work through really challenging times, have been cheapened, and made into a political football.

That the rules that the government put in place meant that some groups of students did better out of those rules than other groups of students, is not though the fault of either their students, parents or the schools they went to.

It was obvious last year when the rules were announced that those schools that typically get the better grades would see the biggest increase in those grades.
If you are instructed to give the best grade the work from that student suggested. Most A grade students will have done some work that is of an A* standard.

The question that should be being asked is that why for the past 12 years the government has done everything in its power to hold back state schools.

Surely that just tells you that either the 2020 and 2021 cohorts were weaker, of that the school failed to correctly apply the rules in 2020 and 2021.

This. The government probably loves these private school bashing articles, as they deflect attention from the actual issue, which is that the government doesn't run education well enough

100%.

Let's blame teachers for doing what we told them to do.

No, my husband and I and both sets of our parents all went to private schools. We’ve all done well academically, I don’t doubt because these places get you going from a young age.

For example my senior schools exams all took place in a big intimidating hall from about age 11. Oxbridge and Cambridge classes for those deemed bright enough. Sessions on study skills. Three parents night a year. These are just some of the reasons that it is such a hugely unfair system.

I’m being honest. It’s not smoke and mirrors, just so much support
that it would be surprising if you did better outside that system.

I have no problem paying for it but any private school aren’t is lying if they don’t think it gives their kids a leg up. You’re effectively trained form a young age.

^ excuse typos I’m driving

(that’s a joke)

Ha, I had to laugh - I've just opened the weekend Guardian to find an advertising supplement called 'Modern Family', apparently funded almost entirely by adverts for private schools. Nice to see the Guardian sticking by its principles!

The Guardian are hilariously pro private education as many of their staff send their children to fee paying schools! The Times are far more likely to call out some murky truths, which made the above article all the more surprising.

Looks like The Guardian are upping their game in calling out fee paying schools after all! Another article today about 'gaming the system'.....It would be interesting for them to do a FOI in to the grades of schools who refused to publish their data.

www.theguardian.com/education/2022/aug/28/private-schools-england-gaming-system-lockdown-exam-results-gcse-a-level-grades

It's just rubbish. I have friends who teach at two different local state schools and I know for a fact that both massively inflated grades (and you can see it in their three years of results). And I also know my kids private school didn't (and they did better this year and exactly the same in 2019 as they did in 2020). I spoke to the Head only this week and he said they were rigorous in sticking to the previous year allocation so much so he felt a few kids missed out on the grades they would have got by sitting the real thing.

So essentially there were good schools and bad schools of every persuasion. But there is also an issue that maybe teachers felt exams don't show their pupils at their best and that good, studious kids who don't perform at exam get penalised. This was their chance to do something about it!

I haven't RTFT yet but I was thinking the same as DS results were a bit odd to say the least

@Reusername
is your DC’s school single sex? The Times have an interesting take on it today - they have drilled a bit deeper in to the data perhaps

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/top-exam-grades-plummet-at-single-sex-private-schools-8bdfskk8b

Amongst the named and shamed schools for those without access to the article are -
Putney High
Tiffin (state)
Queen Anne's Reading
Sherborne Girls
Nottingham Girls High (state)
Royal Grammar School Oxford
Concord College
St James Senior Girls
Immanuel College
Marchant Taylors' School
The King David School (state)
Loughborough High

The article quotes Robert Halfon, Conservative chairman of education select committee who says;
"The results this year are very telling. Clearly private schools milked the teacher assessed grades system because there was a huge amount of grade inflation last year compared to most state schools."

In my experience the pressure in academies to gain certain grades is much worse than in my, very academic, school. Of course we want our students to do well but I don’t get stressed wondering whether my performance is being scrutinised by SLT.

Totally agree. I went to a terrible comp - lazy lacklustre teaching, poor behaviour. When I wanted to apply to Cambridge my English teacher told me not to bother and I did the entrance exam with no input. Couldn’t do languages as so badly taught. I now teach in a very academic day school and see how much attention and support students get. Mock interviews, specialist subjects meetings to widen reading and knowledge etc etc. There are good and bad schools in both sectors but it is a huge advantage.

Hmmmm......