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A level assignment marks.

54 replies

Flyhigher · 06/11/2024 17:26

DD just got two grades back from college lower 6th.

She got 75 out of 100.
Is that an A?

Also the same in Media.

136 was the beginning of A last year. So is 68 the A grade boundary?

Is 85 an A star?

OP posts:
petproject · 07/11/2024 06:15

If she is unhappy with the grades she may be able to ask for the nea to be moderated. Otherwise, it's ass everyone has said.
I would focus forward to the exam - both my children studied Aqa history and revision is straight forward. They repeat similar questions on certain topics/themes so she just needs to practice lots of essays under timed conditions over and over.

CabbagesAndCeilingWax · 07/11/2024 06:27

It's impossible for teachers to give any meaningful grade boundaries at this early stage.

Even if it's a section from a genuine past papaer, done in exam conditions, it's likely to be one of the easier skills/topics (because they've only just started!) Some kids improve as they mature and learn, some kids plateau/hit a wall as the work gets harder. So some kids who got 75% on my first assessment last year went on to get A* and some went on to get C.

It's very early days. She should be focusing on how to improve, wherever she's at. By the end of Year 12 she will be given a, usually accurate, forecast grade.

redskydarknight · 07/11/2024 07:38

Flyhigher · 07/11/2024 04:23

As I said we can email the pastoral teacher only that's it.
I personally don't think that no parental input for 6 months is reasonable.
At uni we give clear grades from the first coursework which usually within the first 6 weeks.
A levels are just 18 months, so no feedback really for a third of it isn't acceptable.

Hardly a helicopter parent asking for some clear marks before 6 months.

Your comments aren't helpful.

Is it really no feedback? Does your daughter never get input from her teachers at college? Does she literally have her raw mark on the test papers - there is no suggestions about what could be improved? They haven't been through the paper in class so she can see what's gone wrong? Your DD can't go and talk to someone about her progress?

People are calling you a helicopter parent because at sixth form you should be stepping back and letting your daughter manage her day to day work and only stepping in if there is an issue/she needs more support. There is no suggestion that either is happening here.

How often do you communicate with the parents of your uni students? Does this mean you are providing no feedback?

Phineyj · 07/11/2024 07:52

It's normally easy enough to figure out a school email! Initial plus surname and rest of the format as per the pastoral lead's email...

BeyondMyWits · 07/11/2024 07:56

WE, as parents had no feedback at all on A level practice markings from our daughters' schools - one large comp, one smaller grammar. To be honest we did not expect any.

Our daughters wanted to go to uni and knew what they had to do to get there... they spoke to their class/personal tutors every week and made those plans for how to keep on track. Parents had zero involvement unless a student needed a personal development plan with parental input/supervision.

So for us, no news was good news.

clary · 07/11/2024 09:35

How often do you communicate with the parents of your uni students? Does this mean you are providing no feedback?

yes good point from @redskydarknight there.

Surely it’s your dd who needs the feedback, which I agree, should be in his to improve rather than “ooh grade A” - that’s not really helpful. I’m surprised that as a HE teacher you don’t seem to see this.

You say “your comments are not helpful” (to me as the last poster? To all of us?) but in fact there are lots of useful comments in here. Again, I suggest your dd talks to her teachers about this. She can report back to you I guess. But ways to improve and a target grade rather than a meaningless letter grade based on six weeks of work and one test.

clary · 07/11/2024 09:45

Sorry typo
feedback should be on how to improve

Flyhigher · 07/11/2024 11:07

I don't expect feedback. No of course not.
But some idea of what the marks mean.
DD isn't entirely sure what they mean either.
She has asked and not got very clear replies.
Rather like here.

OP posts:
Flyhigher · 07/11/2024 11:11

CabbagesAndCeilingWax · 07/11/2024 06:27

It's impossible for teachers to give any meaningful grade boundaries at this early stage.

Even if it's a section from a genuine past papaer, done in exam conditions, it's likely to be one of the easier skills/topics (because they've only just started!) Some kids improve as they mature and learn, some kids plateau/hit a wall as the work gets harder. So some kids who got 75% on my first assessment last year went on to get A* and some went on to get C.

It's very early days. She should be focusing on how to improve, wherever she's at. By the end of Year 12 she will be given a, usually accurate, forecast grade.

Thanks.
That makes sense. I guess I do just have to wait.
They vary a lot.
Some will get an A* as you say and others a C with the same mark at this point.
I guess at uni they are more adult and the jump is almost less from A levels.

OP posts:
Flyhigher · 07/11/2024 11:13

petproject · 07/11/2024 06:15

If she is unhappy with the grades she may be able to ask for the nea to be moderated. Otherwise, it's ass everyone has said.
I would focus forward to the exam - both my children studied Aqa history and revision is straight forward. They repeat similar questions on certain topics/themes so she just needs to practice lots of essays under timed conditions over and over.

Agreed. Lots of past papers over and over next year probably.

OP posts:
redskydarknight · 07/11/2024 11:14

Flyhigher · 07/11/2024 11:07

I don't expect feedback. No of course not.
But some idea of what the marks mean.
DD isn't entirely sure what they mean either.
She has asked and not got very clear replies.
Rather like here.

If your DD responded to her teachers like you've replied to people on here, then it's not really surprising. If your DD asked what the marks meant and got an answer she didn't understand, then she should have asked for them to clarify.

Nobody on here knows what your daughter's mark on an ad-hoc test means. They've tried to provide helpful comments. She got less than 100% so there is room for improvement. She surely knows to focus on that?

Flyhigher · 07/11/2024 11:21

clary · 06/11/2024 21:17

Hi OP as others have said, there is no way we can answer this question in any meaningful way tbh.

It depends on so much. Was it an actual A level exam question? Was it sat under exam conditions and marked according to the mark scheme? At this stage of year 12 I would be surprised if it was tbh as 75% on an A level question would be pretty impressive after just half a term.

In 2024 for AQA history a mark of 75%, 150 out of 200, would have gained you an A. But you can see that for yourself I am sure. That figure will vary year by year (though not that much tbf, as long as the Covid years are mainly discounted). Was it really half the A level exams in total tho? Seems unlikely. If it was a single question then the figure is much less signiicant.

If I set a candidate in early year 12 an A level exam question and got them to do it in class in exam conditions in my subject (MFL) I would be amazed if they achieved 75% tbh, which is why I suspect i may be an easier question, or they may have had support in class, or been set it for HW.

Either way we can’t tell you. But I imagine the college or her teacher can. Your DD needs to ask if she wants to know; but IMHO a working grade after half a term is fairly meaningless.

Just to offer another example of what I mean, DS2 had a maths test about this time in year 12; he scored IIC 45/96. Not great? But apart from a couple of maths whizz mates who got 75 and 93, his was one of the highest scores. One student scored 6. One scored 0. It all depends on context.

BTW 1200 students in a year? That's huge! The biggest sixth form college local to me has about 1800 students across two years; most school sixth forms have about 200-400 students. I cannot believe you are not allowed to email – but really it is up to your DD to chase this up if she wants to. Why is it so important to know the grade?

Thanks.
Yes I think on balance it's too early to be meaningful.
I think 75 seems quite good. But it could go either way. And the question probably isn't a full a level question at this point.

OP posts:
clary · 07/11/2024 11:29

redskydarknight · 07/11/2024 11:14

If your DD responded to her teachers like you've replied to people on here, then it's not really surprising. If your DD asked what the marks meant and got an answer she didn't understand, then she should have asked for them to clarify.

Nobody on here knows what your daughter's mark on an ad-hoc test means. They've tried to provide helpful comments. She got less than 100% so there is room for improvement. She surely knows to focus on that?

This! “Rather like here” yes @Flyhigher how can we answer your question? Too many variables which we cannot know. Your dd should ask for clarity - but again, not “what grade did I get” but “how can I improve my mark?”

Talipesmum · 07/11/2024 11:39

My son is in y12 at a sixth form college, not quite as big as yours but maybe 800 per year so still large. He’s already had a brief report for each subject with lesson attendance (%), class effort, homework effort (marked from 1-3, or Below, at or exceeding expectation), working at grade (based on how well they’re doing so far, many caveats around it being v early days, and it not being a predicted grade), and their target minimum grade (this is largely based on prediction from their gcse results).

We won’t have a parents evening till some time next term, I think, but the report is helpful. What is even more helpful though is that each time he gets a test or mark for anything back, he can tell us where he needs to improve, usually how that score compares to the rest of the class, and if the teacher has given indication of what that would mean for a level.

Your daughter and you aren’t going to get a clear “this is an A grade” because it’s only testing a small proportion of the course, it’s likely to be building in complexity as the course goes on, the assignment may not have been done under the same exam conditions, and the teacher likely knows it’s still uncertain. But your daughter should be able to understand what sort of test it is, what she works on next, is it a past paper question etc.

Flyhigher · 07/11/2024 12:13

The answer is basically you have done quite well but lots to work on to improve.
Can't give a grade at this point.
Quite different to school.
At school they were giving predicted grades.
But I guess they worked off the sats. Which were broadly accurate.

OP posts:
Flyhigher · 07/11/2024 12:16

Talipesmum · 07/11/2024 11:39

My son is in y12 at a sixth form college, not quite as big as yours but maybe 800 per year so still large. He’s already had a brief report for each subject with lesson attendance (%), class effort, homework effort (marked from 1-3, or Below, at or exceeding expectation), working at grade (based on how well they’re doing so far, many caveats around it being v early days, and it not being a predicted grade), and their target minimum grade (this is largely based on prediction from their gcse results).

We won’t have a parents evening till some time next term, I think, but the report is helpful. What is even more helpful though is that each time he gets a test or mark for anything back, he can tell us where he needs to improve, usually how that score compares to the rest of the class, and if the teacher has given indication of what that would mean for a level.

Your daughter and you aren’t going to get a clear “this is an A grade” because it’s only testing a small proportion of the course, it’s likely to be building in complexity as the course goes on, the assignment may not have been done under the same exam conditions, and the teacher likely knows it’s still uncertain. But your daughter should be able to understand what sort of test it is, what she works on next, is it a past paper question etc.

We have a bit of that.
But no effort grade.
She has an effort grade. But we can't see it.
I don't think she has as much feedback as you have had.

OP posts:
Flyhigher · 07/11/2024 12:43

We don't get how the score compares to the class either.
You get a lot of good information.

OP posts:
Talipesmum · 07/11/2024 13:05

Yes, I think we are getting more than you (and it’s a huge sixth form so I did want to make that point - it’s not the size of the place necessarily).

He doesn’t get told how his score compares to the class in any formal way, but the kids often know among themselves.

If she has an effort grade hasn’t she told you what it is?

I do think the answer you gave at 12.13 about what she has been told is totally fair enough, and she should take it at face value. It is still very early for any sort of grade prediction- ours came with a LOT of caveats. She and you should focus on where to improve and wait till February. It sounds like the school did a lot more on “predicted grade” stuff than many do, it can be a useful crutch but it really is all about putting in all the improvements and learnings offered so far at this stage. 75% to me seems good but also early days. Keep going full tilt on it.

redskydarknight · 07/11/2024 13:30

Flyhigher · 07/11/2024 12:13

The answer is basically you have done quite well but lots to work on to improve.
Can't give a grade at this point.
Quite different to school.
At school they were giving predicted grades.
But I guess they worked off the sats. Which were broadly accurate.

So (assuming they did go through the paper and she knows where she lost marks/could improve) I don't know what else your DD wants?

Predicted grades at school were based on SATS and entirely meaningless.
It's not really helpful to your DD to say "based on one piece of work after 6 weeks we predict your A Level grade to be ..."

Feelingstrange2 · 07/11/2024 13:35

If I got 75 percent at an early stage I'd be asking what have I missed out on to get 80, 90...hey 100!

So I learn to "do my best"

At the end all the exam work gets marked, chucked in a bucket, and a total produced which THEN gets allocated a grade depending on that particular exam sessions boundaries.

The most important thing now is to learn how to put work into that bucket that's the best you can do and that is what can be controlled.

Feelingstrange2 · 07/11/2024 13:38

It always annoyed me at work when apprentices were "happy" with a pass mark of, say, 55.percent.

Whilst I do understand that passing the exam is what matters at that point in time, in reality, once qualified, the PI insurers want you to produce 100%! All the time!

So, my reply was, OK you met one hurdle but please try and prioritise improvement

LarkspurLane · 07/11/2024 13:50

Flyhigher · 07/11/2024 12:43

We don't get how the score compares to the class either.
You get a lot of good information.

My DS gets the "how the score compares to the class" by asking others in the class what they got. Or the teacher might say "all Bs and Cs this time".
Unless it was an exam set in more or less exams conditions, it's hard to say what the grade might be.
DS is in Year 13 now but did not have predicted grades (which turned out to be quite a way off his current predictions) until January of Y13.

Are you worried that your DD is not doing well enough? How does she feel? (You seem quite unusually involved.)

BeyondMyWits · 07/11/2024 15:41

I know you want to be involved etc, but to be honest if my daughters came to me with "I got 75%", the only response would be "Wow, well done sweetheart" Can't believe the number of people wanting to know where that puts them in the class etc... my dad used to do that... deflates the sails, made every achievement into a minor disappointment - so I stopped sharing info.

redskydarknight · 07/11/2024 15:46

BeyondMyWits · 07/11/2024 15:41

I know you want to be involved etc, but to be honest if my daughters came to me with "I got 75%", the only response would be "Wow, well done sweetheart" Can't believe the number of people wanting to know where that puts them in the class etc... my dad used to do that... deflates the sails, made every achievement into a minor disappointment - so I stopped sharing info.

It also doesn't help unless you know the relative ability of everyone else in your class. Might be better to be bottom of a high achieving class than top of a lower achieving one.

Flyhigher · 07/11/2024 16:24

I don't particularly want the where are you in the class.

Just saw the mark on the school app. And wanted to know what it meant.

It is quite good. But doesn't mean much at the moment.

Is the upshot.

I've told her it is good.

Which I do think it is!

OP posts: