Whole cohort in a subject underperformed?

[EmmaStone]

Hi there, I'd be interested in teachers/markers' experience on this.

DD got her A Level results back yesterday - 2 results were definitely in line with expectations, but her best and favourite subject she was predicted an 'easy' A star, but was awarded a B. The other 2 students at her school were predicted As and achieved C & D.

The school is a selective indie, generally gets excellent results, so this is very out of the oridinary. Teachers all experienced in the subject.

DD got into her firm Uni regardless, so isn't inclined to do anything, but should we query these cohort's results?

Wtf. About as helpful as pointing out that 85% of grades were a -b at my childrens school. And that 35% were a* . I have no idea how the clas s civ cohort did thought - but that might actually be helpful.

OP I would speak to school about thoughts on a remark. It might not matter for uni entrance but depending on final career choice it might matter for competitive grad schemes. I am a lawyer and was asked about specific gcse results in one post qualification interview which was a bit ridiculous.

Not sure where you got my privilege from. Maybe read my previous posts.

Privilege and entitlement are debates to be had but not by hijacking someone's thread. I'm just finishing off my Darren McGarvey and will put it next to Chums on my shelf before I go off to teach in a couple of weeks in a state comprehensive. Hope that's OK with you.

The typical anti private school idiots have turned up. Predictable and boring.

Slightly at a tangent: we cannot lose any more MFL A level students because the grade boundaries are too harsh and therefore favour native speakers. German A level has already nosedived so we make it even more unattractive.

2% A star in media is a combination of course and students taking it. MFL, by contrast, is already a niche subject perceived as very hard because most drop MFLs like a brick. Many before gcse. It’s dire.

Thanks for this.. An interesting read.

Sorry but the cohort is tiny and often for "experienced" read set in their ways and don't actually keep up to date with modern mark schemes etc. I am afraid that can happen too.

Further as this cohort has not been judged against a national cohort before (as in gcses) the school may simply have got it wrong with their view of the ability.

Further as this cohort has not been judged against a national cohort before (as in gcses) the school may simply have got it wrong with their view of the ability

That's fair point. Predictions must have been more of an art than a science in recent years. I feel for teachers, always end up with the responsibility. Most students don't meet their predicted grades for a number of reasons, sometimes down to student effort (or lack of it).

This must be really tough for students, as some must be losing places because of it. It doesn’t sound very fair.
Will it also apply to GCSEs ?

Yes, I'm thinking that may be it. The teachers aren't old fuddy duddies, they're excited by their subject, encouraged lots of extra-curricular (DD attended tonnes of lectures, read lots around her subject etc), but perhaps they just didn't have enough resource to correctly peg grade predictions.

This subject is DD's 'thing', she reads it in her spare time, she's visited lots of the important sites and museums, she listens to relevant podcasts, and she read loads of critical works and essays around her subject. She put in the work, hence the shock.

Anyway, it is what it is, she's raised the question, but ultimately it neither holds her back nor defines her, so may never matter again.

Both my dds wanted to do languages at GCSE but sadly couldn’t due to subject box clashes.

DD is quiet and disappointed but also has made her peace with it, because initially didn't fancy going to Cambridge, but closer to results she was looking forward to it all, Having gone through rigorous selection process and all that :(.
School don't seem to care much. It's been her thing since she was 10, she studies classics for fun, so it is quite odd...

same here, it's her thing, so feels quite unfair to be rejected.

I find this a bit depressing as DD3 is doing both Class Civ and German A-levels (next summer). Predicted an A* for both atm but definitely now taking that with a huge pinch of salt! This year’s cohort for classics (three kids) got A, B, B but obviously I don’t know what they were predicted.

Interestingly, that chart posted by Piggy seems to suggest that for both music and German, the number of A+ grades given this year were still higher than in 2019, despite the harsh grade boundaries.

My son's B (highest in his private school for Classical Civ) and very different from all his other marks was 2017 (before the 2019 changes mentioned above) but as I said may be they just all did badly that year. Water under the bridge now.