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

In the interests of balance, my DS did get an offer from this RG university this afternoon (he turned it down as he was v happy with the insurance which he had always had a strong affinity for )

@TawnyPippit

I would be interested in how the “universities advised to be lenient/flexible” is working out in practice.

My DS missed his firm offer by 1 grade (offer AAB, assessed ABB). It’s a well known RG university. Place not awarded on track, which showed insurance. Firm would not take calls yesterday morning so he emailed them as advised by school (using their proper channels). Heard precisely nothing as of now. He’s good with his insurance, but its a bit crap if a university in difficult times cannot even engage with an offer holder

Sorry, meant to reference this post.

That’s great news @TawnyPippit - your boy is happy and the uni can make the next DC in line happy as well!

@ClarasZoo

I think the problem is I have not seen a definition of NEA....

Indeed...

1)Is it a "non-exam assessment" i.e. any piece of work which meets the criteria of "valid"

2. Or Non-Exam Assessment i.e. the formal NEA which makes up part of some A levels, but especially Arts/ Design and Performance subjects.

I'm inclined to believe they mean 2) as it's unlikely that any other school assessed work would meet the 'validity' criteria?

@Divoc2020 that's what I fear too.

In dd's case with no valid mocks & no NEA for her subjects what would they accept as evidence to support an appeal for CAGs over the awarded grades?

At the moment dd is refusing to engage in discussion about appeals. She's completely disengaged - she seems okay with her insurance place but the grades are nonsense. I'm giving her the weekend to stew on it & will try again on Monday.

We can also see inconsistencies begin to emerge whereby:

• an NEA, originally worth only 20% of an A level (e.g. Computer Science) could be used to inform the whole grade as part of an appeal

BUT

• Completed NEAs worth 60% of an A level (e.g. Drama) will be totally disregarded/ignored as part of an autumn exam series

Huh?!

@Divoc2020 - I think I read NEA as 1. Rather than 2 but you might be right... if it’s 1. then they might as well revert to CAG... as presumably the teachers had evidence for the CAG....

DS did a computer science NEA, spent many hours on it. It was due in straight after the Easter holidays, so he worked on it over the first 4 weeks of lockdown. Not sure if it even got marked as it was after 20th March. So there may well be many who did do NEAs that won’t be counted.

@Divoc2020

We can also see inconsistencies begin to emerge whereby:

• an NEA, originally worth only 20% of an A level (e.g. Computer Science) could be used to inform the whole grade as part of an appeal

BUT

• Completed NEAs worth 60% of an A level (e.g. Drama) will be totally disregarded/ignored as part of an autumn exam series

Huh?!

Crazy, Divoc.

Here's an excellent comment from the GCSE thread:

Imagine if they'd come out and said: "Grades will be a bit higher this year, but the only way to prevent that would have been to randomly assign some students to be the ones who had a disaster on the day. And obviously that's not fair." Everyone would have accepted that.

@kingscotestaff - exactly. TBF, we have ended up exactly where a good and reasonable outcome would have been. I know a lot of people haven’t - and we are in the ultra competitive London day school market although DS is a level below the Oxbrige-troubling end 😊 - but if anyone had asked us what would have constitued a good outcome on Weds we would have said exactly where we are now. We have friends whose DC have been completely blindsided, so I know this is not the norm, and sending very sympathetic and empathetic vibes to everyone.

@MillicentMartha - I wasn't knocking CS NEAs by the way - my older DS1 did one and I know how much work they entail - but it was just a subject where I knew the NEA made up a smaller % of the total syllabus.

So if my DD got a 9 for her DT project, a 7 for her mock, a 8 for CAG (guessing), will she be able to appeal for an 8 at least, if the algorithm gives her less than 8?

Of course, Divoc2020. If DS had been scheduled to finished his earlier it could have counted, is all. Ridiculous to have the ‘resit’ in such practical subjects as arts, dramsa and tech to be on the theory only.

I am reading NEAs as (2)

When I taught a course with a NEA, for mocks we combined NEA and exam marks in the appropriate ratio and used the overall grade boundaries. A 7 and a 9 could be a 7, 8 or 9 overall, depending on actual marks and component weighting.

Now this https://www.gov.uk/government/news/statement-on-our-earlier-announcement-15-august-2020?utmsource=99edd471-7437-4c9f-9bdf-b33b9bc719fa&utmmedium=email&utmcampaign=govuk-notifications&utmcontent=immediate
You couldn't make it up.

I read the UK one as (2), but the Welsh one looks like (1). Clarification to follow.....

Welsh guidance:
An appeal can now be made on the grounds that there is evidence of internal assessment that has been judged by the school or college to be at a higher grade than the calculated grade awarded. Internal assessment evidence will need to meet specific criteria, which is being finalised and will be published shortly. If the appeal is successful, the learner’s grade will be revised to be the same as their internal assessment grade, but no higher than the Centre Assessment Grade submitted by the centre.

What a shambles ,

@Snozzlemaid

Now this [[https://www.gov.uk/government/news/statement-on-our-earlier-announcement-15-august-2020?utmsource=99edd471-7437-4c9f-9bdf-b33b9bc719fa&utmmedium=email&utmcampaign=govuk-notifications&utmcontent=immediate]] You couldn't make it up.

Do you think Ofqual are following this thread and have realised they’ve set hares running due to their lack of a definition of non-exam assessment?

@Snozzlemaid Jesus wept!

I’m not sure media reports are helping. BBC headline says ‘Teacher assessments can be used as valid mocks’

www.bbc.com/news/education-53793583

Using a person's community data (other people's exam performance) to determine how that person is treated is a breach of GDPR. This, along with the inequitable treatment of pupils from certain socio economic areas forms the basis of two legal challenges currently being prepared.

@Gymntonic- It’s indirect discrimination

Blimey!