Wales cancels A-Levels...

[Stayalertathome]

That’s a bit of a shocker! This will leave Welsh students at a disadvantage to Scottish, English and Northern Irish university candidates unless...

all our exams are cancelled too (runs and hides!!)

Will be v v v v pissed off if they cancel the Scottish exams again.

I really think they need to make an effort to enable the higher/advanced higher and A levels to happen, even if it’s online, over a longer timeframe. Or there needs to be a conversation about grading and algorithms before we go much further.
After the debacle that was the awarding of grades for 2020, those students really need an exam diet which proves their worth.
I really feel for them and the shadow this can cast on their future education/ opportunities.
I don’t mean to suggest all is lost, but those results stay with them during their early careers, and the ones I know are pretty stressed out about it all.

It's a no win situation.

If your DC had endured repeated 14 day isolation spells would you feel they were being fairly treated up against a candidate who might have had none?

I desperately want them to go ahead for my own DD's sake as her grades in her Highers were good but not what she could have got in the final exams . She's hoping S6 results will show her ability as she learned a tough lesson on giving 100% from day one. I want them for my pupils who said they'd wear hazmat suits with wellies on top never mind masks if it meant their Highers went ahead.

I have no idea what an equitable solution is.

They should be providing support to those who are self-isolating. I think they are? I know it's not the same as being in school. But yes, I would prefer my DD to take Highers, having been isolating at home (realistically I assume this would not happen constantly, but maybe a couple of times), than not take them at all.
DD has been working hard, as she did last year for Nat5s. She deserves the chance to prove what she can do, finally.

We've heard plenty about teachers who gave inflated grades last year. That was unfair on children who worked really hard and deserved their good grades.

I want my DD and pupils sit exams. But some pupils are on round 3 of isolation and it's just November . Supporting them is one thing but it does not make up for being in class. Practical subjects - impossible . There's a poster on on another thread whose DC is gutted as he can't do his Art while isolating. I totally get that.

I only want fairness and equity fo all the candidates.

But what does that actually mean? These pupils are heading to university, apprenticeships, employment. The grades should mean that certain levels have been attained. We could be in a situation where students are starting maths degrees without knowing the basics. Are starting English degrees without being able to write an essay. Are starting modern languages degrees without being able to speak, read or write the language. Are starting jobs without having essential literacy and maths skills. Universities and employers need to have real evidence of levels achieved.
I fear that we are heading towards a further dumbing down of the Scottish education system. A continued race to the bottom.

We shouldn't sacrifice a generation in order to avoid unfairness to a few.
Do we want to be in a position where a couple of year groups are avoided by employers, because they don't trust their qualifications?
I hope that many pupils who are self-isolating will be receiving good support from their schools and will be studying hard at home. We are talking about 16, 17 and 18 year olds after all. I can't speak for all schools, but DD's school has issued everyone with devices which they can use if they need to self-isolate. I appreciate that those without wifi access will be disadvantaged though. If if was up to me I would have sorted lessons on national TV for all those isolating. Using the best teachers in Scotland. The summer was the time to do that.

I don't have anyone in exam positions and can see it from both sides. Would there be a way to have pupils with attendance above a certain %age sit exams and those below another %age get estimated grades with maybe those in the middle or close to the boundaries get a choice?

I can totally see it from both sides. Even though I have a DD desperate to site AHs and Highers to hopefully secure a uni place.

That's why I described it as a no win situation. I am worried about them all.

Friends DS currently at Uni (after getting his estimates reinstated) and still feels "unworthy" and as if everyone will forever be looking down on him as having not got there under his own merits. It's such a shame. And no amount of "if you work hard and get your degree no one will care what your highers were and how you got them" seems to work. I feel even more sorry for those who might have done better than estimated or who are now looking for jobs and will never have the chance to prove their results as they are not going into higher or further education.