OFQUAL have spoken.

[magentadreamer]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-19438536

Not suprised with their findings. Grade boundaries stand but a resit in November is offered. Unable to read full report as ofqual site has crashed.

magenta - spot on.

Why can't students resubmit unit 2 and 3 marks in November?

It is not the children's fault that OfQual did not get its house in order years ago regarding grade inflation. If it gets away with this last minute cheating, how can we trust that next year the same thing will not happen again?

Please sign this petition:
you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/reinstate-grading-system-for-gcses-that-teachers-and-pupils-were-working-to

can units 2 and 3 not be resubmitted for Nov?

I also thought it was a problem boundaries could vary further as teachers were not told grade boundaries and were in the dark.

So my DS got a B in English Language in July - does that mean that it is possible he was downgraded too he was predicted an A or does it mean he just didn't try hard enough - I'm confused!!

I agree the whole thing stinks .

itchyandscratchy - that sounds such excellent ,practical advice which students affected now could benefit from
Schools have access to the exam board mark breakdown for every student. If it was now up to me (I'm not a headteacher but I'm seriously thinking of suggesting this to my head), I would take the mark from the exam board site, include it on an official letter signed by the head for each student who was predicted a C and got a D instead; and tell the student to include this letter alongside the student's exam certificates, which clearly reminds employers of the fiasco this year, outlines where the boundaries were in January and then in June and where this student's mark was.

and you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/reinstate-grading-system-for-gcses-that-teachers-and-pupils-were-working-to

( not looked at link ,but in case others want to )

bossboggle, dd is the same - just missed the A which she was predicted in both englishes by a whisker. We could blame the CA grade boundary changes (which did move), or that she's had lots of teachers (4 I think in 2 years), or that she's mildly dyslexic and finds english tough, or that she wasn't very well when she took the exam, but to be perfectly honest it's her least favorite subject and the most likely explanation is she didn't put the effort required in to get a safe A and missed out this time. If you are a bit of a borderline student then you do need to work extra hard to be sure of getting your grade, but it's always easier to blame something else.

It looks to me as though the January students got lucky & some of the rest (including the teachers) got a bit too complacent and forgot the CA grade boundaries often do change (happens in science very often).

The main changes were on the C/D borderline because the Foundation exam needed an extra 10 marks to get a C Grade.

There may have been some disparity on CA borderlines for the higher grade students but that's all, whereas foundation students had CA borderline changes and the 10 extra marks on their exam to score before getting a C in June. In January 43/44 gave them a C and in June is was 53 marks. A huge increase and, I have heard, only 10% got a C on that paper, whereas 37% got a C in January in the foundation exam.

That does seem unfair Kez, but we're told only 2% of candidates submitted CAs in January and a lot of those weren't on the C/D borderline, so it's very few who were unfairly advantaged there. There were quite a lot more who sat the Jan foundation exam though and they did indeed strike lucky.

It does seem this has been a problem more to do with expectations being set wrong than anything else. Since there was only a 1.5% drop in the A*-C pass rate (and from a less able cohort) there aren't actually that many dc who would have achieved higher grades last year on the old syllabus. And going back another year to 2010 they had a very similar passrate from arguably a more able cohort and yet we didn't have all the dc from that year thinking they'd underachieved and complaining.

glaurung It is one thing to be advising your child to learn from this experience that she could have worked harder to have made sure she was well within the grade boundary and quite another to then extrapolate to all the dc from that year thinking they'd underachieved and complaining. The outcrys isn't just from the dcs, it's the entire teaching profession. This unfairness didn't discriminate between the able and those who struggle. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9512114/Private-schools-examiners-moved-goalposts-on-GCSEs.html This article quotes the Head of Wycombe Abbey. Are you seriously arguing that her cohort this year were so much less able or hardworking that the number of A/As in English Literature was 40% lower (and there was a similar decline at DDs highly selective school, though they used a different board, with many who had had coursework graded A in English Literature in particular then finding themselves at the A/B borderline. Some of those DCs scored 100%of the UMS marks in other essay based subjects) I have yet to hear of a school in my area either state or private that is not seeking wholesale remarking and coursework remoderation. I wear two hats, as a parent of a GCSE pupil and an academic who gets called on for advice by our course admission tutor. Some of the DCs at DDs school were predicted A*and had a talent for English Literature they planned to persue at university. Since Literature is part of my cross disciplinary specialism at uni and I have discussed with them my research, and the set text my expertise would particularly help them with I am quite sure they would be excellent candidiates but a B at GCSE in a normal year would effectively preclude them from the best courses.

I don't think this is a bunch of moaning dcs who should have worked harder. There is a real issue here and I am very concerned that when it comes to considering candidates in a couple of years time that we will have no way of knowing if a pupil missed an A grade by a couple of marks, and would have got an A in another year or is very firmly a B. I know that many unis, including most definitely my course, will be very receptive to schools highlighting the actual UMS marks if they were close to the grade boundary.

Sorry, link that works www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9512114/Private-schools-examiners-moved-goalposts-on-GCSEs.html

I hear what you say Copthall, and you are right it's mainly the teachers complaining although every child I know on or near an English grade boundary this year is now feeling cheated too thanks to the media coverage. But I don't square you saying there were 40% fewer A/A grades for Eng. Lit this year with Ofqual saying there were 1.5% fewer A-C grades, or the bbc saying that the numbers of A*/A grades for Eng. Lit. were 23.2% this year compared with 25% last year which is hardly the dramatic fall you are claiming, especially when you think they've been rising progressively year on year for the last 20 years.

The cohort ability won't change much year on year, but there were a few (~4%) jumped ship to iGCSE this year and those will in the main have been higher ability, so this year the average level probably is ever so slightly lower.

Universities will take broadly the same number of students for Eng lit courses each year and choose the best of those who apply. If in a couple of years it transpires that you are right and a lot of their applicants have Bs and they can't fill their places with students who got As, then they will have to relax their standards a bit - they will obviously be selecting the best candidates from those who apply.

As an English HOD I am devastated for pupils I really care about, however if you want to really understand the issue read Geoff Barton's blog, GB, the writer of text books for AQA and a significant figure in education circles, has expressed the feelings of us .

What do people think about the views of employers who have welcomed stricter grade boundaries?

Employers don't want stricter grade boundries - they want stable grade boundries and quality exam testing so they know what they looking at and can compare from year to year.

I am an employer and look for Grade B (not C) - I expect most employers know now what they are looking for. Mess with the boundries, so they regress and we still don't know what is going on! Do we now change to C grades or not? I would much prefer things to have stabilised - that would give us 9 grades to choose from.

Glaurung I have no idea why the most selective schools have found themselves particularly hit in particular subjects as it stated in the article I linked to. Maybe because the ability spread means that normally they wouldn't be getting Bs, the grade that is up. However as I say Wycombes experience is exactly matched at DDs school and at DDs school they do the IGCSE. If you look at theWycombe Abbey [http://www.wycombeabbey.com/academic-achievement/gcseresults.php website]] the English Literature results stick out like a sore thumb with 35% As whereas in almost all other subjects apart from English Language (significantly) and music (whiuch is consistently hard to get an A in) over 70% are getting A*, as they did in English Literature last year. It is quite clear that as private school Heads are saying along with all the other teachers that the goalposts have been moved unfairly for this cohort, and theresults are simply not reliable for those of us who have to judge applicants for uni.

I don't think you can have any idea of the complexity and level of competition in the application process. We recieve 100s of applications for our course, most of those will have English Literature GCSE at A or A*. A B in English Literature really would raise alarm bells because of the skills that are particularly important to do well on our course,unless the school provides us with contextual information that explains it (you would think of course that they would do so but the standard of some of the references we get have to be seen to be believed, and remember some sixth form colleges have thousands of students and may not even have realised a student was at the grade boundary for a particular subject and that it wasn't a fair reflection of their ability, let alone remebered it and thought to put it in a reference). We
have no way of knowing whether a candidate was only able to achieve a B or was within a couple of marks of the grade boundary and in the previous cohort would have got a A unless we are told by the school and it is certainly not common practise for them to give us detailed info on UMS marks. A lot of our UK applicants are on gap years, and others are mature students, so we may well be comparing an applicant with lots of others who sat GCSEs at different times. It is quite ridiculous that we are now going to factor into our considerations whether they sat the Gcse the year the goalposts moved and there were a lot of anomolous results. The credibility of GCSEs is completely undermined

The credibility of GCSEs is completely undermined

How convenient at a time when Gove is looking to replace them.

He was going to replace them anyway, so why screw up the chances of the last couple of year groups to sit them?

My guess Copthall is that selective independent schools are a bit more affected because they are less likely to have done early entry. As far as I'm aware, most such schools sit all their exams at the end of year 11 so won't have had any protection of early banking under the more lenient system.

Thanks for the heads up on the competition - I will make sure dd's new sixth form is made aware of the closeness of her grades. I'm already aware that her Bs have ruled her out of applying for a fair number of medical schools which is indeed unfortunate should she want to pursue that career (I think she's changed her mind on that anyway).

It is interesting though that no fuss seems to be being made about the same thing in reverse happening in science. The early entry modules for the new science spec sat in November had ridiculously high boundaries and hardly anyone gained a C let alone higher. This summers results seem much more normal, but it's still tough luck on those who sat early and whose schools haven't offered a resit. The truth is, I think we've always had these anomolies - tough papers or whatever that means the exam system is never truly fair. This one has a higher profile I think due to the 5A*-C inc. maths+english school measure.

Just thought of another one actually - modular vs linear maths. Schools are finding results from linear are much higher than from modular (weaker lower set children who were switched to linear from modular after the first 1 or 2 modules have consistently outperformed their peers in the higher sets who have stuck with modular) yet that hasn't made the headlines. It too will penalise those children with lower maths grades than their less able compatriots, but it hasn't hit the headlines at all.

I'm beginning to think a single exam board per subject with a single exam might be a good way forward from this after all.

To be fair noble giraffe their credibility was being questioned by employers and universities already. However change has to be effective, based on an understanding of the needs of employers and universities and benchmarking with best practise elsewhere in the world, not based on Gove's viewing of the past through rose tinted specs, prejudices, pet projects and 3 day trips on which he sees what he wants to see. His views on the Singapore education system are a source of amusement to the educational community there, he was expertly played by his hosts to their own ends!And certainly not based on giving a funny look to the Ofqual woman so she runs scared and hamfistedly meddles with everything at the last minute making it unfair and the results not worthy of trust.

glaurung So that explains DDs A* in Maths! It had to be the result of a fair wind! I think the thing about Science v. English Lit though is that it is less open to manipulation, an answer is either right or wrong. The Exams Officer was telling DDs friends that if any mark is likely to change on remark, in a normal year, it is English Lit, because however the mark scheme is developed there is still going to be an element of subjectivity. And every single one that has come back so far has been no change, that in itself says something is different this year.

Actually from the experiences of DD1s cohort, and they were the very competitive pre fees hike year, if there is a subjecs where you can get away with anomolous results it is medicine. They have far more evidence to go on than we have, BMAT/UCAT scores and a heavy emphasis on relevent extra curricular activities (although we have that too since we are not a subject studied in schools and we want to see genuine interest) and the personal qualities that will help with bedside manner. Having cleaned up old people's pooh will go a long way to make up for poor results. One of DD1s friend had a C in Chemistry AS but a very high BMAT and she is at Kings. On the other hand the good science courses DD1 was applying to did seem to place a heavy emphasis on A/A*s, especially Bath and UCL as well as Oxbridge.

glaurung I should qualify that by saying DD1 was at a very selective school. I have no idea how they would change that A/A* policy to take account of pupils coming from schools that have poorer results. UCL are I know very good at achieving inclusivity so I am sure they must be prepared to relax the requirement. All the more important to make sure your daughter's sixth form college give the right contextual information. It is so frustrating when you get a pupil reference that just doesn't hang together, or where it is clear they don't know the pupil and you suspect there is more there than you have been told but demand is such that we can't chase up information or take risks with insufficient information.

Thanks for that Copthall, reassuring to know. However it seems that the old people's pooh is what's put her off! Better to find that out now than later . She is a sciencey type, so hopefully will eventually find herself at home amongst other nerdy slightly illiterate types on a course that suits her (I am doing her down really - she's one of those who managed 100% on at least one other essay subject, so she can write, but just prefers not to).

She was at a selective school for most of year 11, but a non selective one before that, so quite where that puts her contextually I'm not sure. I'm actually enormously proud of her for doing as well as she has.

copthall everyone thought Y9 SATs were a bunch of arse for ages. What finally got them abolished? A marking fiasco.

glaurung As DD1 says she would have loved studying Medicine, it was just having to deal with patients that put her off! And yes the geek factor is high amongst her peers if only because, like the medics, their workload and contact hours are so high that normal partying and actually passing the years isn't an option, let alone get the first they all work so hard for (but then of course according to the rhetoric that's so much "easier" now too ). However tell your daughter not to think she has waved goodbye to essay writing just yet, the chances are where ever she studies there will be a Science Philosophy/ethics/policy course and these are increasingly mandatory. The first ethics essay was the first and last time DD1 has shown any stress in relation to academic work and was actually prepared to let me help (and concede I could)!

A change of school half way through GCSEs is certainly relevent.

everyone thought Y9 SATs were a bunch of arse for ages. What finally got them abolished? A marking fiasco.

" Sir Michael Wilshaw, head of the schools inspectorate Ofsted, called on the education secretary Michael Gove to use the row over this summer's GCSE results as a catalyst to examine whether the whole system is "credible enough"."

www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/sep/02/gcses-thorough-overhaul-ofsted-chief

I am Jack's total lack of surprise.

noblegiraffe You obviously didn't hear Gove on the Today progranme this morning. Terribly unfair on this years cohort, inappropraite but not my fault and I can't do anything about it..... except bring back O levels. He must think we were all born yesterday