2014 GCSE league tables

[MaeMobley]

When do these get published? I see from the BBC website that it was January last year.

Teen
It had to really, didn't it - the two schools have been within a hair's breadth for years - and I know from results day that the tables had done something nasty.

Its a shame though as I can put names to some of those kids and they do not deserve the stigma that the DFE has given them.

We chose independent education largely because we thought the IGCEs that our kids will take were freer of government interference - so the dropping them from the league tables I see as a positive. Maybe other independent school parents see things the same way.

Our history dept chose the IGCSE in large part because it was a bit harder, but in even larger part because the marking of the GCSE was crappy and inconsistent. I suspect other depts have similar reasons, though I don't know.

What an unbelievable balls up the government has made of this! John Snow was almost incandescent on Channel 4 News last night.

This blog has some interesting background - written by a former spad to Gove.

Indrid
I nearly clicked on your link. But will never willingly give that little bar steward a page view. Dominic used to regularly pop up to defend Gove. He should be ........

I think schools choose IGCSE because

1. they're linear.

1. they're largely free of CAs etc which teachers find a PITA and test the square route of fuck all.

1. they're largely free from government interference and marking debacles.

1. they're a bit tougher of the A* boundary so make their pupils stand out.

1. some of the syllabi are a bit tougher eg MFL

1. they're easier on the D/C boundary.

And your point 6 is exactly why State schools used them.
DCs school were quite open about doing so.
BUT
this change to the league table was decided after the results came out.
that is why its so nasty.

Draylon, can only speak for what I have seen, but in my DC indy, they chose iGCSE for some subjects (I think biology, can't remember the others) because it was obvious what the question as asking for, and for the GCSEs there was so much fluff, was hard to figure out what was expected. Also, because other GCSEs were so easy and formulaic would be boring to learn and teach.
Would be better for all DC if questions and required answers unambiguous, and opportunity to stretch able candidates.

Draylon you're right that the questions are less nuanced in English and it's fairly easy to get a C.

But that's not because it's for students from non English speaking backgrounds (there is an IGCSE for those students but it's different). It's just the style.

I've decided the GCSE tables are now completely worthless due to the mismanagement of IGCSEs. I reckon the only useful information is in the A level tables now, to the extent that you believe in this data.

I do not think anyone going to a school doing IGCESs should feel stigmatized by HMGov crap tables. I think the attitude should be one of zero = too good to be counted by the morons in the DofE.

Is it too much to hope that this debacle might sound the death knell for the supremacy of league tables and for schools to just do what is right for their pupils?

Talkin of course he would defend Gove, that was his job .

I have also heard many other people speak up for Gove and what he wanted to achieve in improving education - although his methods have obviously divided people. The link demonstrates the huge obstacle to improvement that the Blob presents, but if you don't want to read it then that's up to you.

DS' school now has a 0% English pass rate because of this . Its actually a good example of why league tables should be largely ignored.

Yup my DD has done CAs.

They're absurd.

Get a question in advance. Prepare an answer with teacher (who can prevent you getting help elsehwere?). Learn answer off by heart. Prepare crib sheet in case you can't memorise stuff.

Regurgitate pre-prepared answer.

And repeat.

So, just changing the subject slightly.

These top 100 schools what does it mean?
How many schools is it out of?

If your dc attend one, is this automatically better than other schools.
Obviously, only looking generally, not taking specifics into account.

Another reason to get rid of league tables is in the school I work in students with SEN being asked to stop work in some vocational subjects. Subjects they enjoy and are good at and improve their self esteem and confidence. They have to instead work on subjects that will count towards the league tables, even though they are of no benefit to the student

There's a bit of a stink locally about this, people just don't understand the figures and see a headline

At dd's school there was an unusually large cohort of SEN children this year which was going to affect the result, plus a large number did btec route

The value added score is actually really good but a think a lot of parents don't understand that figure so conveniently ignore it

indrid
I have read Dominic's poison in the past. There is no "blob".

Subjects they enjoy and are good at and improve their self esteem and confidence. They have to instead work on subjects that will count towards the league tables, even though they are of no benefit to the student
Precisely - schools are still gaming the system and looking at what looks good for the league tables.
Of course they could still continue these for the benefit of the students, but they are choosing to benefit the SLT performance pay instead.
But parents swallow the school spin. And the DC suffer.
The interests of the 'school' or the interest of the DC? They are not the same.

I think in some cases it is obvious because a schools website will have headlines like top 100 schools for past 10 years, or something like this, but they all don't.
I wonder about those that may just have had a particularly good year, what else should we be looking at?
I am a bit dim in this department.

I imagine the Indie sector will produce their own tables with themselves slotted in where the Indies think they belong. The newspapers will run the story, tables reproduced with iGCSE stats, nobody will lose anything.

I'm unconvinced by the "IGCSEs" are tougher argument. Private schools care hugely about their exam marks, specially the number of As and A*s. Just doesn't seem plausible to me that they'd enter all their students for an exam that was harder to get the top grades in. There are other ways they can stretch their students (additional maths, extended essays, etc) And I've never come across a sixth form or university that says it prefers IGCSEs. They all say they count them as equal.

schools are still gaming the system and looking at what looks good for the league tables.

Of course they bloody are. Schools are now mostly academies and are desperate for bums on seats to maintain funding. Do you really think a school would do anything to deliberately jeapordise their headline figure? Set parents wondering why results seem to be slipping at a good school. Put a borderline school in danger of dropping below the floor target resulting in the school being shut down? Schools are under immense pressure because of league tables and really cannot be blamed for trying to get the best headline figures that they can. It would not be in the best interests of the pupils for schools to lose funding or be shut down over league table scores so do try to see it that way before you bang on about how appalling it is that schools try to 'game the system'.

It's the system that's the problem.

yellowdasies
Having argued the toss on threads passim ad nauseam with Happygardening, WordFactory and others,
the consensus we settled on seemed to be that IGCSE was harder to get an A* but easier to get a C