Are year 10 children going to lose out more because of new spec GCSEs?

[Sostenueto]

Year 10 children have to sit all their exams with the new system of 9-1. Will they lose out as officially guinea-pigs for all subjects?

Living a broad life with many interests and the capacity to write a blindingly good covering letter matters MUCH more than a few grades in the grown-up world.

Sadly the modern world isn't like that now. There is an ever-reducing place for covering letters and written CVs. More and more, it's online application forms for both employment and colleges/apprenticeships, where "the computer says no" if you don't have enough GCSEs of the right grades. You have to get through that initial screening phase before you get any chance to tell anyone about your experiences/interests etc.

Adventures in Social mobility An interesting listen on how to get that top job and having the right set of interests seems to be quite important.

And with dh it's who he knows that's important when he wants to change jobs. Networking, contacts, headhunters and having the brass neck to phone someone up and ask for a "chat".

Not all schools teach RE past year 9

Our school doesnt, it covers all it seems to need to in PDL which covers sex, drugs and drink mainly

This is what OFQUAL have to say about predictions for new GCSEs: ofqual.blog.gov.uk/2017/02/03/grade-boundaries-the-problems-with-predictions/

Basically, they are meaningless. No one, not even the exam boards, knows what the grade boundaries will be. They will be applied retrospectively based on the marks students get.

From what has been rumoured grade boundaries won't be set until after the exams are marked.

Grade boundaries are always set after the exam is marked. The difference this year is we have no previous years to work off or guidance from the boards.

In the subject that I teach under the legacy curriculum the boundaries are clearly specified

Mark scheme band boundaries perhaps but the raw marks required for grades varied year on year for a variety of reasons. Markers don't know where the grade boundaries will be.

but that is two different but interlinked areas.

In the past we have known the grade boundaries and could figure out the UMS number crunching as they have been freely available through the exam boards.

At the moment we don't know how the UMS is going to be worked out and we have no chance of knowing the grade boundaries as they will move every year with the national peer group.

Went to parent evening last week and quite honestly no one teacher gave the same answer when asked about boundaries and whether predicted grades were a good indicator. Looks like just got to hope all will be OK. They are very good teachers so have to trust them really

^^This pretty much. My y11s are about ti sit theirs. We've prepared then as well as we can.
Some teachers like me have been very open about the lack of information and clarity, others try to give as good an explanation as they can so it sounds muddled.
I actually have liked not having set grade boundaries (can't express that in the staff room!) because it's allowed me to justify the approach I take every year which is push the kids to do as well as they can. Rather than having to have stupid conversations like "these children need a C what 3 things can you put to a formula for them?"

The students who work hard and listen to feedback will be fine.