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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

New modular GCSEs

15 replies

mumwifeauthor · 19/01/2011 18:15

Hi. I'm brand new to Mumsnet as of today, so I hope I'm doing it right! I was hoping for opinions on the new modular GCSE system. This year is it's first year, so the year 10s started in September.I know that the last government brought it in and the new government have already announced it's departure. I'm worried that the current year 10s might be failed by the system. My son is in year 10 and has just sat his one and only English Language exam even though he doesn't finish school for another 18 months. Would love some reassurances!

OP posts:

sandripples · 19/01/2011 19:21

Just saying welcome to MN really - yes you're doing it right. Sorry I can't comment as my DS jsu did GCSES last summer so he's through that now, but I'm sure someone more knowledgable will be along soon.

Newrumpus · 19/01/2011 20:23

Hi mumwifeauthor - my first time too. I'm an English teacher - which specification is he following? As this doesn't sound quite right.

Newrumpus · 19/01/2011 20:23

Hi mumwifeauthor - my first time too. I'm an English teacher - which specification is he following? As this doesn't sound quite right.

Original poster

mumwifeauthor · 20/01/2011 07:54

Not sure. Will find out. I'm particularly concerned about subjects such as English Language as I don't see it as a subject that can be tested through individual mudulars. I don't feel that they can have built up enough skills.( I'm a writer so I guess I may feel a bit more strongly on this one! ) I think it's AQA examining board. He's got Geography (25% of GCSE) on Monday and his Italian speaking exam before half term, which is also a concern.

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inthesticks · 20/01/2011 16:36

Modular exams are not new though they may be new to your school.
However I share your concern.
When I was at school (a hundred years ago) we did all our o levels in a 3 week period at the end of 5th year.Obvious disadvantages if you have an off day but the current system seems to be drip, drip, drip.
My DS is in year 10 and so far has done 2 modules of his maths GCSE, 1 French, 1 RE and 2 English.
In some subjects he is ready but in others I feel he is disadvantaged by having to take part of the GCSE almost 2 years early.

inthesticks · 20/01/2011 16:39

By the way DS is also doing AQA English. The course is different this year in that "course work" has been replaced by "controlled assessments". I think course work has been somewhat discredited and the CAs are less open to abuse. The plan seems to be to do a CA each half term. DS is great at science and maths but finds English hard and I have taken the step of additional private tutoring for him in English.

Original poster

mumwifeauthor · 20/01/2011 17:13

Thanks. Good to know i'm not the only one with concerns. My ds loves Maths and Science but not so keen on English. It's all that P.E.E !

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Newrumpus · 20/01/2011 20:31

So, if your DS has sat a CA this is a percentage of his overall grade - not his final exam. At least 40% has to be taken at the end of the course. If he were to achieve poorly on a CA he could have the chance to do it again. If a subject is sitting one CA per half-term over two years I imagine that they are allowing for this. Modular exams are different from CAs and they can be re-taken. In our spec the modular exams are in Jan and June. CAs are whenever the department need them to be sat. It is probably CAs that are causing stress as they require much more independence from pupils and lots of teachers are finding them stressful too!

Original poster

mumwifeauthor · 21/01/2011 08:57

No. Definately was his one and only exam that he took.(40%) The controlled assessments are all he has left to do. He's not stressed, i'm just conerned by the time frame.

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Newrumpus · 21/01/2011 19:03

The only reason I can see for doing this is to 'bank' the grades achieved and then allow re-sits depending on CA marks. The department will probably have a much clearer idea of your child's estimated grade once the externally assessed part of the course has been done as the remainder is internal assessment iyswim. But (I think) all the CAs will have to be sat at the end of the course to comply with the 40% rule.

cat64 · 21/01/2011 19:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

roisin · 22/01/2011 09:44

Yes, this is quite possible.
The new English spec just has one formal exam (the old spec has two), plus controlled assessments.

But the exam can be taken at several different points in the course.

Obviously the advantage of taking it at an early stage is you can "bank" the scores, then those who need to can do re-sits.

Also it gives the school some breathing space to work out how they are going to implement the C/As, as it's very much a learning curve to work out how best to teach and manage them.

At my school we're putting all the yr10s in for English (old spec) this May.

petal2008 · 22/01/2011 11:15

I am a bit confused too. My DS gives me information on a "need to know" basis and clams up if I question him too deeply.

I know he took a maths exam at the end of year nine and has just taken another. He took an exam in biology, chemistry and physics in December and is due to take an ethics exam next week.

I usually have a nose in his books when he gets home to see about homework etc and have noticed he's being doing a lot of english type exam work - I knew nothing about controlled assessments so this is a bit of a shock.

I really think that the schools should outline all their exam/test procedures to parents so we can be aware of what's going on. I also took O and A levels so this type of testing is all alien to me. I can see the advantages but feel I need to keep on top of the situation.

roisin · 22/01/2011 12:15

Yes, ds1 is choosing options atm. AT the options fair I'm going to go round with a notebook and quiz the teachers about exactly what exam board/spec they do, what the assessments are, approximately when in the year they fall, etc.

(ds1 has basically made his choices already, so I don't need much info as it were. But I think it's a good opportunity to gather these sorts of facts about the courses.)

Original poster

mumwifeauthor · 25/01/2011 15:17

The comments about leaving time for re-sits if necessary make a lot of sense, I suppose. It's just a shock that the exam modules begin so early. My DS has had one exam and two CAs this week alone and he's got another 18 months at school!

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