University 2020 :7: Results tombola, roll up, roll up, pick a prize!

[MillicentMartha]

Well, it’s been a crazy few days.

Old thread www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/3962422-University-2020-6-The-one-with-the-results-at-the-end?watched=1&msgid=99082625#99082625

Can I suggest that parents write to MPs etc. I've just written to ours and shall write to others this weekend.

Appeal criteria is so tight this time too.

Saw this on twitter. Worth sharing.

@Peaseblossom22

Slug , you keep talking about and comparing results for ‘predicted grades’ but that is not the problem . It is the down grade from the Centre Assessed Grade which people are appealing against . The centre assessed grade should be an approximation if what the candidate would have got in the exam , this is what Ofqual asked schools to supply .

The UCAS predicted grade is a marketing grade it is not relevant to this discussion.

And yes I am 55 have two degrees from RG universities and a professional qualification and my A levels are still on my CV . I regularly interview and whilst the weighting of A levels decreases in line with years work experience I would still expect to see them on a CV . If they were wildly out with the type of grade I would expect to see I would probably ask why

This is a really important point RE predicted grades and centre assessed grades. Predicted grades are over inflated, and until the while university application system changes, that's not going to change. But I don't know of a teacher in the country that couldn't produced a mountain of evidence for the CAGs submitted, which would rarely have been as high as the predicted grades. Obviously teachers would still be aspirational for their students, so some grade inflation which could have been dealt with, but the number of students with every subject downgraded, or those with grades reduced by 2 or 3 grades, should not have happened and is a disgrace.

I have two bachelor degrees, PGCE, a masters and and a PhD, three decades of relevant work...Still asked for A level grades. Post graduate studies also depend on A level grade criteria and for some - like medicine- universities will not consider anyone with grades below a certain cut-off.

@slug it reads like you are mixing up the UCAS predictions (you say 'in a normal year' and mention the 16%) and the Centre Assessed Grades used this year. They are both predictions but not the same.

Well I'm confident that when my Dgd gets a 1st at KCL followed by a Msc and then a PhD her A levels won't mean much at all.

Because she got her grades in 2020 where no one did an exam for their grades but were given grades moderated ( unfairly in many cases) and for all this they will be looked down on no matter how many A* s!

Keeps posting too early.
It's like next year if 2021 cohort sit exams fully will their results mean more than this years cohort? I know the government says they should be no different certificates will look the same but if a uni next year has a student from 2020 with grades in hand and a 2021 cohort who sat actual exams will they subconsciously compare one more weighted than the other? Who knows?

Sostenueto there are people just a few posts below even better qualified than you describe who say A levels still matter!

And, if you have met the offer of your uni how would your A levels be important for further progression when they were good enough to get into uni on the first place?

See explanations given by by @Ant1966 and @Gymntonic below

Of course they matter in the line of progression. Gcses to A levels to degree to Masters to PhD. It's the end product that matters. If Dgd gets a first at KCL then wants to do a Msc there are they going to say no because her A levels were only a certain grade( their set grade)? If she gets a Msc at KCL are they then going to say no to her doing a PhD because her A levels are a certain grade? ( Acceptable for entry to their uni to do a degree in the first place??) If so then systems barmy!

As @Gymntonic says

Post graduate studies also depend on A level grade criteria

Unfortunately, A levels don't become irrelevant once you've made it to the next stage.

@slug my DD's UCAS predictions were an aspirational A star A star A.
Her CAGs were a realistic and attainable AAB.
After moderation she was "awarded" BBC.

She missed out on her uni place and is struggling to get anything through clearing.

Her school were due to do mocks just before Easter, they obviously didn't happen.

The last set of tests before that were in January but school don't know yet if they count as "valid" mocks, and they were brutally harsh - So probably not much help in terms of appeals anyway.

(Might be easier to get onto post grad courses at the same institution, but then even if her A levels didn't prevent her from doing a post grad, they might prevent her from doing it where she wanted to)

Well singingstones it sucks then!

Hi lightandairy good luck hope all gets sorted! X

Yes, especially for the class of 2020

So what A levels do they class as not good enough then singing?

@Sostenueto in the scenario you describe your dgd will be fine especially if we're talking about just one B grade or from an A star to an A ( as I think you are from your posts here or elsewhere). But if grades drop below B and once you step outside of that institution, and for the most competitive post-grad courses ( where everyone applying has a first), recruiters quickly forget which year's exams were affected and, yes, A level grades will count.
And, if the system is unfair then people have a right to complain and a government should be held to account.

I think each post grad and institution would have different requirements. My post grad experience is very limited (just the one course ) but I needed a certain class of degree and I think not specific grades or subjects at A level but something like "evidence of academic achievement" from school. So when they get lots of people with firsts applying, they use A levels to whittle them down I guess.

I've posted on here already regarding my DS's disappointment in his grades. His make no sense whatsoever. Mocks were AstarAAC. CAGs Astar Astar A B. Awarded BBCB! These are subjects DS has a 9 and two 8's at GCSE. He remains devastated. Yesterday his headteacher apologised in person to him. DS attended a relatively new school which had a low achieving cohort last year and teachers had said how advanced this year's group were in comparison. At parents' evening the praise was heaped upon my DS and a fellow student friend of his. The teachers were so proud of them. I was very angry listening to Grant Shapps comments on BBC News this morning who put political spin on the data and refused to accept there was an issue.

Hoping all who appeal are successful and go on to achieve their dreams.

I would and did say to DD beforehand that if she got the place she wanted then maybe it didn’t matter but as news came out both nationally and via her peers then it seemed and seems to make sense all who want to and for whatever reason to appeal. There is a difference between being seen as an A/A* student and a B or same from a B to a C/D. One of DD’s friends fell foul of the computer needs to award an E issue, which is grossly unfair.
Everyone from year 11s up to 13 will be dogged by 2020. I imagine lots of uni students and kids from year 9/10 will also be affected in ways we don’t know yet. But it does seem that statistically those in indies/grammars have suffered least so in terms of some generational justice then benefit of the doubt should go to individuals rather than an institution or an algorithm or ‘the system’.

Whether anyone on here agrees or not Dd is appealing her B in Chemistry. Its not affected her uni place but her CAG was A. She got 9 at GCSE and A at AS last year.
Her college have agreed she should appeal as their Chemistry results have all been downgraded because of last years' results.
This is a new college who only have one previous year of A level results so if they didn't perform well last year this year have been affected.

ianadelgrey in total agreement!