University 2020 :6: The one with the results at the end

[MillicentMartha]

Hopefully as the title suggests we will actually get up to results on this thread! Only 5 weeks to go.

Old thread www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/3918392-University-2020-5-Results-day-approaching-and-beyond?pg=40

@DadDadDad yes my ds got a razor too, he was quite chuffed! Apparently the girls got tampons and towels! I think you had to have ticked the agreed to marketing emails in ucas to get them.

Girls got tampons and towels from UCAS. Don't remember other Dd getting anything last year - she must've opted out. Winchester did send her chocolate though!

Daft q but how do you get the results? Just checked school info and we’re to call at 9. Seems quite late given we’re probably going to have to look at clearing as he’s now decided not to defer.

I think DS opted out. It’s a reflex action to tick/untick the marketing box.

We have had the discussion and will have a few clearing options ready to go. Back before March we had decided upon not worrying about a safe insurance as there were so many courses in clearing last year. So he used clearing as his insurance and put 2 realistic rather than safe choices as firm and insurance. Coronavirus has put that strategy into a bit of doubt, especially since STEP 1 was cancelled as it formed part of his insurance offer. So he’ll be ready to use clearing if necessary.

Manchester has offered AAA but said they’d accept AAB so long as the B isn’t maths or FM, which is a more likely result. Birmingham also AAA or AAB (but they would have dropped one grade if DS had a grade 2 in STEP) and they don’t mind if the B is FM. I’m really hoping he’ll get A*AB.

Clearing options might include Southampton, Sheffield or Cardiff.

@Railingsohno, you’ll know from Track by 8am if he’s made firm or insurance. If he’s made either, spend that half hour getting some clearing phone numbers ready and your Clearing number from UCAS. Hot foot it to school and get your results and straight on to the phone. Take 2 x phones and chargers with you to school. They should also have advisers on hand to help.

We would normally get results by 9 at school also, but this year they are sending them by edulink at 8am. I don’t think all the best places are gone immediately.

Yes there is a package awaiting DS when he gets up(!) labelled UCAS/Gillette so I can assume he has received the same today!

The main reason that schools are not telling students/parents the centre assessed results is so that there is no wittering on about wht X got higher than B and so on, and so that there can be no parental pressure placed on those calculating the grades.

Please also remember that the grades are not just based on the mocks but also y 12 exams, in class tests, homework and so on. Therefore if you child is usually a high performer or at the top end of the class then feasibly their grades will be anyway.

After results the school can tell your 18 year old (but not you unless your 18 year old gives permission) what grade they had calculated and this may be helpful in deciding whether to sit the Autumn exams. My understanding is that they are not allowed to tell you the ranking as that could lead to giving information about other pupils in that you can work out where others were ranked based on your ranking and it therefore falls within the exemptions for subject access requests.

DS has an unconditional as his insurance, but he's all but decided that if he misses his firm he'd rather look at clearing, what would the process be for him @MillicentMartha as I assume he doesn't automatically get put into clearing ?

@MillicentMartha there doesn’t seem an option to go to school, there’s only a phone number.

@Railingsohno, sorry, I didn’t spot you said call. Does everyone have to phone in to get results? That seems very strange.

@Lightuptheroom, I think they have added a button to Track this year that allows you to withdraw from your place. You’d have to withdraw from the unconditional to get a Clearing number. Whether you can talk to a uni beforehand without a clearing number, to check they’ll have you, I’m not sure.

@MillicentMartha it’s a boarding school

I am thinking DS should not have opted out of marketing now!

@Railingsohno could you explain DS's situation to the school and ask them to e-mail the results earlier? Some schools will be flexible if you ask and they have the results the day before, so could have an e-mail ready to go for the students who need to know.

@ShalomJackie I think it will vary by school, but a friend who teaches at a school with no sixth form said that at their school SLT looked at the mock results and gave the department their own statistical analysis based JUST on those mocks. The teachers could move the rankings within the SLT assigned grades, but not change any grades. I hope most schools can be more holistic, I only have a GCSE DS in this, but neither of mine would have done well for any external exams if their results had been based solely on January mocks.

I understand that it would have been inappropriate to share grades with students before they were submitted, but if it would help them to manage their approach to Clearing etc, I think it is a shame they can't share the CAGs early with a warning that they may go down.

@Monkey2001, that school didn’t follow the guidance then! If they were going to give the teachers a framework, they’d have been better off looking at the last 3 years results.

@Railingsohno, whatever the school type, expecting everyone to telephone in at 9am is ridiculous. Emails would be a much better solution and give you some proof. Imagine if you misheard! Or if all the lines were engaged for an hour!

It is going to carry from 6th form to 6th form though. DD sat a solitary mechanics paper for her mocks before lockdown, which was always her weakest topic. She didn't have the chance to sit papers in stats or pure. She didn't sit mocks for her other subjects, only submitting an essay for one. However, they have a stream of grades for progress tests, homework and year 12 exams all available, along with coursework.

[quote MillicentMartha]@Monkey2001, that school didn’t follow the guidance then! If they were going to give the teachers a framework, they’d have been better off looking at the last 3 years results.

@Railingsohno, whatever the school type, expecting everyone to telephone in at 9am is ridiculous. Emails would be a much better solution and give you some proof. Imagine if you misheard! Or if all the lines were engaged for an hour![/quote]
I know!!! Quite agree. It is a small school but still ....

@MillicentMartha, I did not phrase that quite correctly. The school looked at historic results to work out what they thought they should get overall, but the only internal info they used for grading the Y11 cohort was the mock results. The teachers could not say "This student is a good geographer and would have done better in the actual exam than this other student who got a higher grade in the mock". All they could do was move them in the ranking for that grade.

Still not following the guidance, then, @Monkey2001. That’s not really trusting the teachers’ judgement. But at least it’s nothing like as bad as I thought at first. I think my school used mock results with quite a high weighting to rank the students, together with topic assessments and homework etc. But mock results are often a pretty good predictor of final ranking, if not final grade.

This is the type of article I like reading

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-53492283

Monkey2001 - whoever that school is has opened themselves up to the cohort being able to use the appeals system as they have not followed the process set down in the guidance! Appeals as we know can only be made if there is a process error or evidence of bias.

DuckyMcDuck - we were anticipating that they should be as nationally this is the highest performing cohort yet.

It is good to see that the test modelling where they anticipated over 33% overprediction has calmed down to 10-12% and also good to see it is where teachers are not wanting failing students to fail rather than good students not getting the grades they deserve.

dd's school have sent all Yr13s a video from their Head of 6th Form. He's explained what happens on the day, what happens if you want to go into clearing or adjustment.
In her school, the pupils can go in to get results. No parents allowed in, and all pupils to queue outside, 6' apart. There is also the option to have them e-mailed to you, if you prefer (pupils travel a long way to her school)

Both dc1 and 2 knew where they had been accepted before they went to get their results though- it comes through on their phones - not the result, but the face the university has accepted you.

Their guidance PDF is interesting.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/902736/Standardising_grades_in_summerx_2020_-factsheet-_20200721_1529.pdf

And the webpage.

www.gov.uk/government/news/ofqual-summer-symposium-2020

@DuckyMcDuck - I like that article as well. Far too sensible and calm to go viral on social media though 😉

@BackforGood, Track has promised not to open until 8am...as they do every year! Schools have been told they cannot release grades until 8am this year. DS3 will be busy refreshing Track and the school’s VLE at 8!