Oh dear god they still don't have enough markers for GCSE English

[noblegiraffe]

This ad just popped up on my twitter feed.

And this just after the news that KS2 writing assessments are totally unreliable - apparently marking English is quite hard to get right.

It's going to be a car crash come August. No way are the results going to be reliable. Get your remark applications ready.

I think this is actually more concerning than anything about the new spec: harder texts/closed book/harder mark scheme. At least if we knew the boards had a wealth of experienced markers, they'd all be in the same boat or in with the same chance of grade x.

I didn't think remarks were really a "thing" any more? And who will know whether to apply for a remark when predictions are "between a 2 and a 5" or "between a 5 and an 8"?

I saw that too - don't AQA realise that some teachers following their tweets are also parents!

Oh dear god indeed.

I didn't think it was possible that there could be a worse fiasco than the year that US company did the KS2/3 marking but it seems it might be.

This happens every year - some who have accepted contracts pull out, so adverts go out and if they aren't filled then those who are marking get offered extra scripts (with an increased pay level)

Quite a lot of subject vacancies for this summer's exams

www.aqa.org.uk/about-us/become-an-examiner-or-moderator/examiner-vacancies?gclid=CPfx_vqvidQCFc5sGwodU4EDFQ

cricket they were desperately advertising at Easter as well, with entry requirements dropped to NQTs and PGCE students (and possibly post-grad non-teachers) so I don't think this is just a last minute thing.

No, it's not last minute or usual. I've been asked if I fancied marking - as a non-teacher but an English graduate...

The issue is that if you are an experienced teacher/marker at the top of your pay scale the money per script at 40% tax just isn't worth the effort.

My allocation for maths has been increased from 450 to 550. Another colleague who has been marking for years has been asked to do 2 papers.

With maths they've gone from 2 papers to 3 papers which has massively increased the marking load.

This is not good. Coupled with the ridiculous errors on the Lit papers. English results this year could be a complete disaster.

Oh great! Poor dd2 is taking these bloody exams.....

Looks like knowing the main characters' names in Shakespeare's best known works isn't a prerequisite for those setting the papers so you'd think anyone could mark them!

I normally mark and am not this year due to ill health. It used to be worth while but it's more difficult now :(?

I've marked the poetry paper for AQA for the last few years. I was offered a contract for lit paper 2 this year- it's an hour longer, includes another text, 4 essays instead of 2- and they're paying about 50p more per script. It's just not worth it or even manageable for someone who's teaching full time. I've no idea how they think all these scripts will be reliably marked.

I used to mark Lit and it is hard, hard work. It's 20 loong papers a day for 21 days straight with no right answers. I've been teaching this year to a new syllabus with no idea where the 'pass mark' might sit. I don't want the responsibility of these kids' grades any more! I'm out.

A friend of mine who is doing this said they were told to mark 'leniently'. I was like, "so your not following the mark scheme then". She replied, "apparently not".

I marked GCSE English for many years (since it began and 16+ and GCE before that). I marked last year and was offered a senior position on the new spec. I went along to the first training meeting after which, reluctantly, I decided to retire. The surprising thing was that several others announced their intention to do the same.

Oh and the pay has been reduced this year for Maths as well. Not sure about other subjects.

What made you decide not to do it this year, greylady?

I can't believe that the shambles that has been introducing the new spec to schools extends to marking the bloody things.

The government has a lot to answer for. Rushed through just because Gove didn't want the GE election in 2015 to have to potential to overturn his changes. Education as a bloody political football.

I guess the OCR question balls-up isn't helping make the markers' job any easier either.

As a parent I am feeling oddly (wrongly) reassured about this fiasco. Hopefully massive stinking fuss will be made by you (poor) teachers.

I am going to be writing a very nice long letter to my sons' teachers, thanking them for their help and forbearance this year

Fucking Gove

@NotYoda we've been making a fuss since the changes were announced. No one cares. We need parents to make a fuss. There are more of you and they haven't written off your votes!

I feel really sorry for English teachers. The whole introduction of the new GCSE has been a shambles and now they can't even trust the results that come out of it.

And I'm saying that as a maths teacher!

So what does all this mean for results this year. They can lower the grade boundaries, but can they really lower them so much a 'c' ends up being less than 20%. The only alternative I can see is that they find a way to illegally bump up the marks which is unfair to the teachers and students who have successfully earned their result.

As an English teacher, this is an absolute joke. Except it isn't, as kids' results will be impacted and so will teachers' pay. And if results drop nationally, this year will stand as an aberration, tougher exams etc - but in 6 years' time, the kids who did their exams this year and got disappointing grades through no fault of their own will be competing for jobs with other kids who took their exams a year or two before and whose results will be much better. Employers won't beat in mind the political background for the 2017 season! Dreadful.