University 2020 :4: The wait for grades and better days ahead

[MillicentMartha]

New thread for us. Interesting times.

Old thread here

Its Chemistry. The other two subjects are humanities. She got Grade 9 in Chemistry GCSE though

It could also be that they grade the mocks quite harshly to give some sort of motivation to the students to work hard at their revision. But I’m not helping. Her teachers aren’t allowed to tell her, of course, but when was the latest report with the grade A predicted. What do they call the prediction? Target, working towards, working at, on course for?

Her last report was after the mocks. Gave a predicted grade of A but said she was working at B. Since then, she has pulled herself up to an A grade in homework and assessments, so I guess it depends how much weight they put on that improvement. It would be really unfair on a lot of kids I think to award grades in a way that does not take account of their trajectory. It must be quite common for students to pull their grades up as they approach the exams and revision gathers pace.

@Kingscotestaff. As a university academic I would say YES, absolutely the school is honour-bound to predict realistic grades and to take into account what they know about students who relatively over or underperform in exams.

I teach at Oxford and we're more worried about the opposite. Some of our more disadvantaged candidates come from schools who aren't used to teaching A-level subjects at the highest level and where 'easier' and less challenging choices about coursework assignments are encouraged. These students often 'overperform' in timed exams and get their A/A* like that despite weaker coursework. We are very anxious to make sure these students (who then tend do very well in our own heavily exam-based system) are coming!

Hi Hopsalong (sorry - I've still not worked out how to reference names!). Do you expect therefore that schools will take note of progress and past exam performance in forming their views? I'm clutching at straws here! My DD's teachers had commented that she had pulled her grade up since the mocks and noticed how hard she was working. She performed extremely well in GCSEs and is very much someone who produces the results when she needs to.

I share your concerns about disadvantages pupils. Across all year groups I fear that they will be more likely to full behind as a result of this disruption.

Oxford is in a stronger position than most blimppy, because it can refer back to aptitude tests for almost all subjects as well as notes on interview performance, and can then accept a student despite missed grades if it wishes. Most other unis lack this additional info. It's not all about getting into uni obv, but getting the place is better than a disappointing grade and a rejection.

That's a good point about Oxford. DD has a Cambridge offer and they too will have the results of her written assessment and interview. She's not planning to do Chemistry there and her other two subjects should comfortably hit the grades she needs. It's such a worrying time as it feels like her future is no longer in her own hands.

blimppy if her predicted grade was still an A after mocks, that sounds hopeful. Target grades can be set from ALIS data and they don’t tend to change but predicted or on course for are down to the teacher. It sounds good. 🤞

Thanks MillicentMartha - it's a nerve wracking time in many ways at the moment!

Some common sense with teachers finally told to stop setting work... www.theguardian.com/education/2020/apr/19/parents-and-pupils-overwhelm-schools-with-pleas-for-good-grades

Again, not sure how this is working in practice, ds even has a mock exam next week!

All quiet here, no work getting sent from DD’s school.

DS has handed in his NEA (CS coursework project) which he’d been working on for months and has a little bit of the CS syllabus to finish off. Finishing off the syllabus is not for assessment purposes, more for completeness. He’s got a bit of maths to do, but just to keep his hand in, really.

DS's confirmation letter for student finance has come through - much quicker than I expected.

For anyone whose DC are doing Pre U, DS's school have said that the Autumn exams are likely to be in November.

I think the rumour is that all autumn exams will be in November. Some poster on a thread’s DD working at an exam paper printing company was tasked with sticking November labels over the May/June dates. So obviously this is guaranteed to be true.

Interesting millicent! Makes me smile how we find stuff out on mumsnet!

Nothing to stop them sticking new labels on though!

I guess the exams will probably need to be set over a month like the summer exams.. Probably starting Mid October and ending Mid November..

Dds school has tasked the girls with cooking and shopping list skills too... No signs of Dd entering our kitchen yet

The guidance also suggests that not ALL subjects will be available to take in Autumn exams too. I assume all A levels will be but potentially not all gcses for those with younger kids.

p43 of the Consultation document if anyone needs the reference point for my last comment

I saw that, Season but didn’t take too much notice as it hopefully won’t apply to DS. It looks possible that some minority A levels could also be affected as I can’t see any reference to GCSEs only?

Do you think some DC will be withdrawn from teacher assessment exams in favour of sitting the later exams (are they allowed to be withdrawn?).

A couple of girls at Dds school.. One dentistry applicant who does not hold an offer would clearly benefit from delayed exams to give her a better chance of achieving a higher grade and one girl was rejected by Cambridge but clearly wants to reapply (holds Durham offer) and again may benefit from later exams given one weaker subject..projected A* but only achieved a weak B in mocks.

I had assumed they would be unlikely to not hold A levels as they are more important in the moving to next phase of education etc. Also many A levels are for an incredibly low number of students anyway and can be scheduled so as to clash with others and thus less of an issue.

It is for the exam boards to decide and until they say they aren't holding a particular exam it doesn't become an issue I suppose. Mine isn't taking anything spectacularly unusual and hopefully will meet their offer anyway too.

It does give some people another thing to worry about though and I get that.

I teach at Oxford and we're more worried about the opposite. Some of our more disadvantaged candidates come from schools who aren't used to teaching A-level subjects at the highest level and where 'easier' and less challenging choices about coursework assignments are encouraged. These students often 'overperform' in timed exams and get their A/A like that despite weaker coursework. We are very anxious to make sure these students (who then tend do very well in our own heavily exam-based system) are coming!*

But they are presumably the top performers in their school, so would be ranked #1 in the school's internal listing?

Another sunny weekend. How are your Y13s coping everyone?

DS is living the dream in his pyjamas most of the time. He might be persuaded to leave the house every few days or so to top up his vitamin D. Otherwise he’s stuck to his laptop. I can’t say he’s disappointed not to be hard at work revising. He doesn’t appear to be worried about his results.

On the other hand, I’m checking for updates to what’s going on with the advice to schools about ranking etc and how universities might start back online initially. I can help being concerned how much his uni experience might be affected, then feeling guilty that it’s small potatoes in the grand scheme of things.

As I said to a friend recently, there is nothing they can do about it now, it’s out of their hands, much as it would have been after their exams finished. I’m trying to think positively and I’m making sure I’m not pushing my concerns on to him, while quietly checking previous exam results and trying to work out where he might be ranked!