A level results day 2021 support thread

[Mrs08]

Hi 👋
I thought it might be nice to have a support thread for us parents? (Can't see one in further Ed yet??)
It's been such a difficult time for our kids - and for us! - but the end is in sight!
Ds will get an e mail at 8.30am (apparently) and can go into college in person if he needs help/advice.
Good luck everyone!
X

marlene

Because of the ranking ds2 got a grade lower than he should have done based on teacher assessment

Of course this could have worked in reverse, in his case anyway 🙂

marlene DS's physics teacher was off a lot shielding because his little boy has a heart condition. DS had extra time off both years too with his broken collarbone. They've had a rough couple of years. DD got her GCSE results today and has done really well, again considering both years have been so badly disrupted. Hopefully things will calm down from now on.

Help please!

DS got the grades he needed to do German at Bangor, deferred till 2022. Bangor rang him on results day to say they'd changed the name of the course, to Modern Languages, and that he'd need to reapply through UCAS. But that he'd still got a place.

DS can't see the course on UCAS though.

Help! What does he do now?

Call the Uni & explain he can’t see the course on UCAS?

Is anyone considering appealing any of their grades?

DS is really upset about his C in maths, feels like he's failed (!) and it was really unfair based on the overall evidence used. He had CCAABC - the last C was 1 mark off a B. Obviously I've told him he absolutely has not failed but that's what's in his head.

He has got into his first place Uni choice, despite dropping a grade for maths, so he's lucky in that respect. Am torn between advising him to challenge it or just encouraging him to leave it behind and move on. From everything I've read the appeals the process seems to be set up to make it very unlikely grades will be amended. So maybe he's better off trying to get over it. But on the other hand will he always wonder what if?

Anyone else grappling with this?

There is a JCQ Student Guide Summer 2021 on jcq.org.uk re the appeals process (sorry, not sufficiently computer literate to copy/paste it).
There’s a flow chart for deciding what to do after you’ve received your results:
“Do my grades affect my decisions about what to do next in education, training or work?”
If the answer is “no”, then the flow chart stops, suggesting that the student should be “happy”, as the grades awarded have allowed the student to progress as intended.
Our school has told us that there’s no fee for stage 1, but that a stage 2 appeal will cost circa £100 -the exact fee only confirmed once an appeal request form has been submitted as each board charges a different amount.

We said to our daughter that if she got her first choice then the grades didn’t matter.

@pistachioicecream, similar here - C grade in a subject where the evidence profile somewhat disconnected - only C in the initial "mocks" from last September.

But like your DS mine has a place (and accommodation) at his preferred course and Uni, and so in one sense the result has achieved the right immediate outcome.

The concern is a bit more medium term, having a C on your CV in the year where a lot got As or A*s and the perception that everyone got these grades. Whether that concern is justified I'm not wholly sure.

@pistachioicecream You could appeal. Personally, I think it’s unlikely to succeed though. The awarding body need to decide that the grade given was unreasonable based on the evidence, not just that they would have been more generous. As a head of sixth form, I would have expected that collection of grades (with the caveat that I’m presuming that they are roughly equally weighted bits of evidence) to result in a TAG of a B. I think if a B had been given, then the exam board would not have judged it to be unreasonably high. I doubt they would judge a C to be unreasonably low though.

You don’t have much to lose. I can’t see that they would judge the school to be too generous, so it seems unlikely that they would reduce his grade.

Thank you @MadameMinimes. The wording about the grade needing to be judged “unreasonable” is the issue isn’t it? That sets the bar for a change to be made really high. Either a B or a C could be reasonable with that mix of grades so I agree it’s probably unlikely to change. :-(. Good to know you feel it unlikely to go down though if we did appeal. Thanks for that.

I really feel for him to be so close.

@boys3 I know - i feel your concern about the perception that everyone has A*s and As and how does a C look in comparison. But I know that’s probably not the reality - media hype is not helpful and just makes them feel rubbish. I’m glad your son still has his preferred Uni place too.

DS is likely to be at Uni for at least 4 years with a placement year and potentially 5 if he does the integrated masters. So after 5 years I’m fairly sure his degree will be way more important than A-levels.

I do think the system is set up to discourage appeals as that flow chart shows. Thanks @Georgie8

It’s also horrible how this year it feels like it’s pitting students against teachers. Previously the school would have been fighting your corner. This year it feels like you’re on your own with it all. Although there’s no charge at our school to appeal as far as I know.

Loughborough halls update - after a number of calls (DS2 called and was fobbed off so I stepped in ) yesterday, he was offered a SC room that was £6200! He called again and was told tough, I then called and managed to get them to agree to find him something cheaper! Phew, finally he has been allocated a room, not in his first choice hall but that's fine, it looks like a fun hall to be in and it's £4700 so at least he can afford to eat. And drink lol.

Crikey. DS is going to Bournemouth and it's £6k self catering. 😮

Is that with ensuite bathroom tho? We cant afford to add to ds2's £7k loan so he has to have shared bathroom. Same thing with dd two years ago. Some of the rooms are lboro are £8k (that is catered but still a lot)

@pistachioicecream
I agree -this appeal system isn’t going to help the vast majority of students upset with their grades, and it’s designed not to IMO.

My daughter was miffed not to get an A* (always predicted) in one subject, but she got an A. In her other subjects she was predicted As, but (during 17 hours of assessments) had flashes of brilliance, and then a couple of duds, so was awarded Bs.

I don’t think her awarded grades were unfair in the circumstances and she got her first choice.

My problem with this year (as they had time to plan) was that every school/college was left to devise their own system and there is no continuity at all and that’s what isn’t fair.

However, ultimately, each stage is a gateway to the next and no one has ever asked for my O and A level results. I graduated (80s) with a good degree from a good uni. If your child has made it to their first/second choice, I’d just roll with it -it’s too much stress for everyone and I think we’ve all had enough stress over the past almost 20 months.

As an aside: my b&b uni accom in the 80s (4 to a shared bathroom, wash basins in bedroom and communal kitchen) was £45 pw -quite the bargain!

I didn't get halls when I went to uni back in the day, but I do remember that anything over £30 a week rent was considered ridiculously expensive!

We're in a similar position. Dd was predicted A,A,B and got A, B, C. She has got into her first choice uni so doesn't want to appeal... I'm miffed for her but can understand she just wants to move on. Her college definitely haven't over awarded though, which is a shame but luck of the draw I guess.

In my final year at Bristol (back in the 80s to be fair) I lived in a house where my rent was £42.50 a month. A MONTH! I mean, it was freezing cold and my room was very noisy, but still.

@gleegeek

We're in a similar position. Dd was predicted A,A,B and got A, B, C. She has got into her first choice uni so doesn't want to appeal... I'm miffed for her but can understand she just wants to move on. Her college definitely haven't over awarded though, which is a shame but luck of the draw I guess.

Similar to my son with one of his grades

Worked at A level, exams A level but the college were working on a ranking and he was out ranked

He doesn’t want to appeal either….he’s worried they’d take the other grades away, but he was the same in his gcse as he was 2 points away from a higher grade

Agree with this :

“ However, ultimately, each stage is a gateway to the next and no one has ever asked for my O and A level results. I graduated (80s) with a good degree from a good uni. If your child has made it to their first/second choice, I’d just roll with it -it’s too much stress for everyone and I think we’ve all had enough stress over the past almost 20 months. “

@RufustheBadgeringReindeer - can I ask how the ranking thing works? DS was telling me this but surely each cohort were not ranked against each other within each school? That would make all the work in the last two years pretty pointless especially at some schools.

I don't see any point in appealing the result he is most disappointed in. 1 teacher, small cohort, can't see how it was moderated so it would be futile. He can't see how his evidence submissions and performance in the internal exams have ended in the result awarded. It would be challenging someone in an echo chamber - they're not going to change their mind are they.

DS very down and deflated. GCSE A* across the board and objectively good grades but AAAAB is not good enough for what he intends to do or what was predicted. He will do October exams but oh my God more bloody pressure. This has been misery.

mrsmoss its been explained much better on other threads, but the colleges were encouraged to look at 2017/2019 grades when submitting theirs

So if in 2017 there were 6 As and 7 As then the school would look at how many As this years cohort had and if there were 8 then the first 6 would get an A and the 7th might get an A but the 8th would definitely get a A…does that make sense, I’m not great at explaining stuff online 😀

Ds2 was the best in his class but he freely admits that there were some very very clever children in the other class

Crikey -you must have had slugs crawling up the wall 🤣

Has anyone managed to put an appeal together for their child's A 'Level grades? We are working towards a priority appeal but the system is so completely flawed as we are only allowed to appeal on two grounds. We want to appeal the school has based their entire grading policy on the outcome of the exams they set and have not taken into account any other evidence which is not what other schools have done and has cost our child their first choice uni place. This is completely unfair and not a level playing field. Anyone else in the same boat?

Ds should have got an A* in history
Most of his assessments this year and his NEA were A*
So I guess he was ranked down
The College knew he needed A so that's what he got
It's a bit annoying

@pistachioicecream We are trying to put together an appeal but I do think the appeals system is not going to work in anyone's favour! Our child missed out on their first choice Uni and we have had to go through 48hrs of clearing to a Uni that wasn't on the radar. Its totally unfair how the process works and the JCQ guidance to schools only stated the "could use and can use" when outlining the criteria, typical law speak! So our school judged all A'Levels based on end of term exams they created and those alone, so appealing would mean asking them to remark their own work! Certainly not what the Government said would happen! Really miffed at what they have done! :(

Countrygirl- I understand your frustration but that would not constitute grounds for appeal. All schools had to submit a policy and, whilst it isn’t what we did, basing the grades primarily on an exam series was a valid way of generating TAGs and lots of schools did it that way. Their policy would have been approved and as long as they followed their own policy, then there isn’t really anything to base an appeal on. I sympathise, but there is no chance that your appeal would be successful. The guidance on appeals makes that point quite clearly. Not following their own policy is grounds for appeal, but having a different policy to another school is not.