What Grade/Score/Percentage is a "Pass" in the GCSE Sciences??

[user1497126393]

I ask, as my nephew will take GCSE Double tier Science in the following year [AQA exam board] and he is utterly confused and apprehensive on whether its a Grade C or if it's a D!

All he was told by his teachers that:
"you MUST pass, if you don't then you have up to 3 chances to do so".

Also- I'm sorry to be a pessimist but he struggles with science, so what if he fails on the 3rd attempt? sad

I'm now scared for him and just want to give him answers even if they are not what he wants to hear!

Please answers on this specific topic anyone!

I don't think anyone knows for sure about next year, but this year, if you get a 4 in english and maths then you will not need to retake. But the school will be judged on the number of 5s they get - 4 is the 'equivalent' of a C, 5 is a high C/low B - so it may be that he is encouraged by the school to achieve higher than a 4.

user1497126393

No one knows what the grade boundaries are for a particular exam. The government and exam boards haven't told us. Also grade boundaries change year on year.

You'll be wanting to thank Michael Give for the extra levels of confusion.

Up to 3 chances sounds strange as usually after GCSEs people only retake English & Maths.

I wonder if they are talking about the ISA bit (does that still exist in the revised GCSEs?) which up to now at least could be attempted more than once? (This is in-class experiment and write up)

A pass is considered to be a C or a 4. Actual percentages vary year on year.

You can only retake English and Maths? Really? Why can't people retake any subject they want?

They can retake any subject they want. The problem is that in reality only FE colleges offer teaching for GCSE resits (sixth form colleges and school sixth forms will only generally offer Maths or English resits alongside a Level 3 programme).

If you already have enough GCSEs for a level 3 programme at a college, then the Level 3 programme you follow (A levels, BTEC etc) will be full time, so adding on another couple of GCSEs to an already full time timetable of teaching wouldn't be encouraged as it would inevitably be to the detriment of the main programme.

So a year of GCSE resits is really only available at an FE college to kids who failed to get 4 or 5 x grade 4 GCSEs.

Not all FE colleges offer GCSE resit programmes.

FE is chronically underfunded - you can thank the Tories for that as well.

Thanks for explaining. I find the system really convoluted. I don't understand why a level 3 programme would be offered to a candidate who has not passed GCSE english or Maths? I thought this was a crucial part of what defined 'passing GCSEs'?

And what about, people who might want to improve their grades? For instance from a C to an A or B? Is there no provision for this?

He won't have letter grades for science next year, he will be scored 1-9 (1 being the lowest).
A few months ago a 5 was a pass now it seems to be a 4 - who knows what it will be next year!

The only provision for someone who got a C and wanted an A would be if they entered as a private candidate. Which is logical - if they've passed why would the state fund another attempt.

Wrt students starting Level 3 - yes they'd normally be expected to have Cs in Maths and English, but most sixth forms will allow ONE of those to be taken again if the student only just missed. It would be a bit unfair if an otherwise bright child wasn't able to do A levels in say Maths, Physics and Chemistry despite A stars in those at GCSE because they got a D in English.

Right, So there is provision as a private candidate, that makes a bit more sense although a shame if you can't afford it.Thanks for explaining retakes alongside Level 3. I didn't school in this country so just getting to gripes with the whole process here.

Tis Broadly speaking your nephew is much better off working hard during his GCSE year so when he gets his results he knows they were the best he could get. Maths and English get retaken as they are seen as the gateway to many jobs.
If someone is taking Level 3 courses they should ideally be concentrating on them, not retaking GCSEs, unless getting that GCSE is required to get them onto a particular later course.

Or was my reply to user XXX ?

Teen - You've posted to the wrong poster.

Tisglorious. My dh failed gcse maths at his first two attempts. 6th form wouldn't let him do a Level 3 course do he left & went to FE college. He is a talented musician & passed A level music & was accepted for a leading music Conservatoire. He finally passed gcse maths at his third attempt.

Why should he have been prevented from doing a music course he was clearly suited to because he finds maths hard.

Where did I say your DH should have been prevented from studying music? I'm simply trying to understand the U.K GCSE retake system. My comment about doing a Level 3 and retakes together was simply out of surprise as I thought in the U.K you couldn't do A'levels unless you had passed English and Maths GCSE.

If you don't need don't need Maths and want to study music which your DH sounds brilliant at, windeed waste time retaking Maths?

Any student who doesn't get a C (or now a 4) in maths and/or English has to resit them in sixth form/college as a condition of their level 3 qualifications being funded.

I'm teaching the new science specification that your son is doing and I too would love to know what the grade boundaries etc would be. Unfortunately, it is a complete fuck-up and we're just working blindly towards the exams with no real idea of what standard they are looking for. I'm just making up grade boundaries based on what i think is most likely for my reports (sorry kids!) but in all my 24 years of teaching science GCSE, I've never felt to unsure of how to grade the students. Sorry that I can't be of more help!

I second You'll be wanting to thank Michael Give for the extra levels of confusion.