Corona Cohort: Statements Scripted, Grades Predicted

[Monkey2001]

This is a thread for supporting all young people post GCSEs 2020, regardless of their educational setting. It is respectfully requested that all are supportive and helpful to each other. If you want to start a debate, e.g state vs private, please don't within this thread. Please also be sensitive when responding to threads about grades.

Some of us have been here since first thread back in yr10, some will be new. Everyone has been friendly and helpful in the past. Everyone is welcome. It is hoped this will continue.

From OrangeCinnamonCocktail:

Our DS/DD may go down various paths (such as employment, apprenticeships, higher ed) We have decided for anyone interested they will most likely find us within the Further Ed board.

Previous thread - www.mumsnet.com/Talk/further_education/4339233-Thread-19-Corona-Cohort-Enrolling-on-Year-13-hopefully-NOT-unlucky-for-some?pg=1

I'm so very sorry to Fferny re ds. What a tough situation for you. Which is also not just a one off incident but a long road of worry. Wishing you all the best.

And to Orange and Monkey too. Sorry to hear about your situations.

Utterly devastating news from some of you regarding illness and mental health issues. Sending you all virtual hugs and best wishes at this difficult time 🙏🏽

I just popped on here very quickly to post something - I haven't had time to read everything but am so sorry some of you are having such a hard time. Thinking of you and wishing you and your families well.

The reason for posting is that Ofqal and DoE published their updates this morning (at 1am! Why? I forgot to turn my phone off so got woken by the alerts.) I think the news has picked up some of it but in case they have it wrong I thought I'd post the links. Except obviously now I can't get the links to copy. I will try and post them when I get to work but in the meantime if anyone can't wait they can google it or look on gov.uk.

The 4 publications are - (1) "Ofqual's approach to grading exams and assessments in summer 2022 and autumn 2021"; (2) "Awarding qualifications in summer 2022"; (3) Proposed changes to the assessments of GCSEs, AS and A levels in 2022"; (4) "Contingency arrangements: GCSE, AS, A level, Project and AEA".

Sorry my link posting is so rubbish - in my defence I'm on a train and will be in meetings all morning but will try later. Looks like our cohort will be a "halfway point" in terms of getting back to normal after grade inflation and they've gone through with the proposed changes to the exams.

Raw summary here

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-58734418

From teacher pov ,I am really frustrated by much of this.

This is well set out
www.tes.com/news/gcses-and-levels-2022-how-will-exams-look-next-year?amp&__twitter_impression=true

@Fferny1 I am so sorry to hear what you are all going through. Thinking of you

@OrangeCinnamonCocktail Thinking of you too, I hope your mum improves.

And @Monkey2001

Thank you for info on arrangements for next year @Delphigirl and @Piggywaspushed. Have just had a quick look but seen they are bringing back grades over two years. I suppose they have to get back there but harsh on our lot as they will be directly compared to the previous year.

Sorry to see so many of you are going through such a rough time. Sending love, especially to @Fferny1, @OrangeCinnamonCocktail and @Monkey2001

Oh @Fferny1, so sorry to read your update. What amazing mates your Ds has and hope things get smoother for him over the Nezt few weeks.

Try to have time to take care of yourselves, too @Fferny1 @OrangeCinnamonCocktail @Monkey2001

@Fferny1 so pleased your DS gave some signal his friend could respond to. Perspective indeed.

@Monkey2001 What a rough few months.

@Fferny1 I have just read your update - I am so sorry to hear what you are going through

So sorry this is happening to you all, especially @Fferny1, @OrangeCinnamonCocktail & @Monkey2001.

Fferny - it must be so hard on you all, thank goodness for wonderful friends, please keep posting, I know a lot of this must sound so trivial for you at the moment, but you need your own head space at times too - you can post anything you want to say.

Orange - Dementia is a horrible enough disease without Covid and other health issues. I hope you manage to have some lucid moments together.

Monkey - that is a lot to cope with. We have 2 friends that have passed away recently and I know it's taken it's toll on other friends who were very close to both. It's not just the immediate family it affects, it's other around them too.

Hugs to you all - and anyone else that needs one :-)

And @Monkey2001 too. It seems that all those articles I’ve read over the years about 45-55yo having the greatest stresses - teen children & aging parents & menopause & health issues in themselves, friends and family & work responsibilities from senior roles … is all true. I am struggling with most of these too. It is tough

Thanks so much all. I'm quite stoic at the moment as DM has suffered a lot throughout her life. I'm so sorry to hear you are going through the mill @Monkey2001 it does seem to happen in waves

@Fferny1 so sorry to hear about DS1 and I really hope you can get the help he needs, it sounds like a shock, thank goodness for his friend.

I've told Dd about her Nan, previously we thought the heart attack had happened some time ago, until yesterday. I've left it up to her to decide if she wants to visit, Mum was always very much 'I want the kids to have a nice last memory of me' but if Dd wants to go and see her she can. I don't know if it was the right thing to say.

@Fferny1 so sorry to hear about your poor DS. What have we done to our young people? So many with fragile mental health which distorts their problems. Well done to the friend, good friends are everything when they feel like that.

OFQIAL - in the TES analysis there were a couple of things which made me wonder who makes these decisions:

• Grade profile for autumn 2021 same as summer 2021 is utterly ridiculous! It is a completely different type of cohort, most of the people who got A/A will not be re-sitting, so to decide without reference to the actual content of exam scripts that 50% will get A/A and dinner will get grades well below TAGs is bizarre.

-. Saying UCAS predictions should be based on 2019 attainment rather than 2021 is obvious. That guidance is a bit late anyway as I expect all schools have done their early entry predictions, if not all predictions. It would be unfair to change their predicting approach for later entries.

I wonder how they will respond when this policy returns the widest attainment gap ever - state schools in areas where students have not got good access to technology v some independent schools who have managed really well. We are somewhere in the middle, so DS should be OK.

There was never going to be a good solution, but this one is not impressive. It will be interesting to see how the universities respond, maybe we will see an increase in unconditional offers as there remains uncertainty on exams and uncertainty is bad for everyone.

Birmingham we're giving CCC offers if firmed I think? Not quite unconditional, a lower offer if firmed will certainly help with all the uncertainty. I think RHU had a similar policy a 'promise to accept' if a number of grades were dropped.

@Fferny1 Sorry to hear about your DS, I can’t even begin to imagine how traumatising that must be for you all thinking how close. Thank God and hope he gets the right help.

Just saw the new headline, ‘Exam grades to return to pre pandemic levels’. Can anyone pls explain to me like a 5yr old exactly what this means?

Very sorry to hear of those going through such difficult times. @Fferny1 You must be so shaken. I hope your DS responds well to treatment and don't forget that you need to take care of yourself too

[quote Shimy]@Fferny1 Sorry to hear about your DS, I can’t even begin to imagine how traumatising that must be for you all thinking how close. Thank God and hope he gets the right help.

Just saw the new headline, ‘Exam grades to return to pre pandemic levels’. Can anyone pls explain to me like a 5yr old exactly what this means?[/quote]
According to TES the 2022 grades will be between 2019 and 2020 levels, and 2023 will be back to 2019 levels.

But how will this happen unless they go back to normal full exams?

@Shimy if TES have interpreted it correctly, there will be pretty much full exams with notification of which subject address will come up in Feb. The "no exam" option is very much a contingency plan. If there are no exams it looks like it will be the same as 2021.

areas not address

So sorry to hear about the very difficult times posters are going through. to Monkey, Orange and Fferny and I very much hope Fferny's ds is getting the help that works for him.

Dd didn't make it into her lesson yesterday, but she got close! Went from a counselling session to the room she thought her RS lesson was going to be in - but they weren't there...so she came home...

I think the next baby step could be the one though.

Good news that dd is making progress @ZittiEBuoni .

I'm so sorry to hear about the difficulties some of you have been going through. @Fferny1 that must have been a terrible shock for all of you. How amazing that his friend had the courage to do something - what a great friend he is. I hope ds is starting to improve now that he's getting help.

I'm not sure what to think about the grade inflation proposal. I guess they were always going to want to fix it and it will be harder again for next year's lot, so that's a small comfort! Ds in year 11 has just had delayed end of year 10 exams and I think they've used 2019 grade boundaries plus a bit for caution when giving them grades, so that's good as his grades can only improve!

@Monkey2001 thanks for explaining. I just got back after a nearly 2hr queue to buy petrol! at least I got £35 portion. I hope exams return and things can get back to normal, the level of uncertainty around, grades, offers, entry requirements, is unprecedented and I think these very young adults really have had enough.

We are struggling to decide between Loughborough and Nottingham for ds’s final choice for business management, so if anyone has Ngo to add pls do. We have considered all the usual, course content, campus, placement. DS is more concerned about uni reputation than environment, he thinks Loughborough is more reputable??? Is he right?