GCSE Results Day 2017

[justmumof1]

Hard to belive that I was here 5 years ago sweating it out for the results of his secondary school offer!

Only a few days now bwfore the GCSE results come out. DS is starting to get nervous....as am I!

Why is Eng Lang a much lower percentage?
I think, it's based on which mark is the closest cut off to keep the 'rare' %.
So maybe if they'd gone 1 mark lower thrn the proportion of 9s would have been significantly higher.

Because it's norm referenced and tied to the distribution of marks each year, there will be some variation.

If I'm honest, i hated the new specs when they came out and now i massively prefer them for most students.

It's why the way to support children to get a 9 is to stretch them, not look for daft gimmicks to tick boxes. Students themselves need to really deepen their subject knowledge so they can apply it to any question or text that's thrown at them.

If you are really interested, see here for details of how the grade boundaries were and and the rationale behind it. But only if you are really interested!!

Bertrand - No noses out of joint here, so no need to give it such an unpleasant the twist. Just trying to understand the new grading system which I obviously now get.

I thought everyone did Eng Lit! They have, and the best mark from Language OR Literature is what the school is measured against.

MsHarry
Don't worry about it. We had less than 12 months to get used to 2 new A Level Specs (ones done by current y13), 2 new gcse specs (current y11) and a new KS3 curriculum.
Along the way we've had loads of mixed messages from the boards/ DfE.

I found the best way to get my kids through ia to be honest, give them loads of hard work & ignore the grade boundaries.

I thought everyone did Eng Lit!

Nope, 632419 students did 9-1 Lang this year and only 547809 took Lit. Resitters took the old spec.

There's always been a difference in the number of students taking Lit and Lang, but the gap has got closer with the need to take both for the double weighting of the Progress 8 English bucket.

How many of the 2.2% who got a 9 in English Language do you think got a 9 in English Literature too? At our comp there are quite a few 99 in Englishs and of 99 in maths and Literature but no 999. There's no stats on how many got both English 9's.

We entered everyone fir Lit cos of the double weighting. Don't understand why schools wouldn't want the double weighting. Hardly anyone in Wales appears to do Lit, which, as a Lit teacher, makes me angry and as mother to boy who may well find English his forte, sad for him.

Somebody at our school got a 9 for both Englishes. Ds got a 7 for literature.

It seems logical that there would be more top grades for Lang than Lit. Much more opportunity to use technique and flair and less need for solid subject knowledge.

Thegiantofillinois- we are in Wales and her school did WJEC Eng Lit but AQA Eng language
Would this have been a disadvantage- can't understand the double weighting!!

there will be fewer questions on each exam paper for average DC to tackle and demonstrate their level of knowledge, now that the papers also have to contain questions to sort the 9s from the 7's and 8's. I told my DS to try and 'spot' the grade 9 questions in maths good and early so as to make sure he'd tacked the 'easier' questions first

I honestly wouldn't say so for English.
The questions are open ended. So for example a question on violence in romeo and juliet could include basic quotations where violence happened, violent language, violenve within a patriarchal society, violence and their death as a fundamental feature of tragedy.

Not sure Wales are using that system yet. Still seems to be about A-c and making kids do hundreds of gcses starting from yr 9. Really don't know which co u ntry I want dcs to go to school in. It's crap teaching in one system and having kids in another.

Still waiting to hear what DDs marks were for Eng AQA. If it's as easy as the school just looking it up, why is it taking so long? Do you think they won't do it until training day?

We've had a bit of good news this morning .

DS2 & I went in to school to see the Head of Sixth Form, and they are still going to allow him to take A-Level physics despite not getting the required B grade (by 1 point!).

She said a combination of him being 1 point under the grade boundary for a B and him being strong at maths (8), made it the sensible decision .

Very relieved - no need to scurry around looking for a plan B now!

Oh brilliant santa what a relief for you both. A common sense decision.

Excellent Santa-must be really relieved.

I got DS's AQA English marks from his school late afternoon yesterday. He was 1 mark off a 6 for Lang so I have requested a review of marking one of the papers (will request the second paper if needed). If his mark stays the same to what extent would a 5 be too low when it comes to university applications? Would it be a good idea to re-sit? He was expected to get a 7 in both English papers - he got a 6 in Lit and is still planning on taking Lit for A level (teacher supports this). Thanks.

MsHarry I sent an email asking for AQA marks to both the English teacher and exam officer as I was anxious to get them; they both responded yesterday. It's down to the individual - I hope you get them soon.

Most universities do not look at GCSE grades- they are, apart from a tiny minority, only interested in A levels. So a 5 is fine.

I have just phoned the school and they said hardly anyone in school, that she would email a few people and get them to phone me but it was the HT that DD spoke to in person yesterday. I have no idea about grades affecting Uni. Wouldn't have thought it would matter unless he has aspirations for Oxbridge.

@Draylon:
Slight change of direction, but was anyone else amused by other mum friends citing their DC'spretty reasonable results with the caveat that their child ' hardly revised at all!' 😉 -so the take away message is ' my child could obviously do much better had they tried 😂 . Thing is, they're reaching that age where what's written on that bit of paper is taken to be a measure of their ability in that subject; that being a combination of their intelligence x their drive to succeed. Like with most things in life! Well, my DS got the grades he did by hard work- okay, not very hard work, but a reasonable effort!

I'm one of those mums but I've kept very quiet about it. I moaned a lot to friends about his lack of work at the time but I've only told one friend how he did and she hasn't got a child the same age so there's no element of competition there.

My son did very little work. He didn't even finish reading the book for his English Lit exam. The lack of effort upset me a lot as I was always very diligent at school and can't understand why you wouldn't try to do your best. He did really well (all As and As) but a part of me is still irritated because he would have got a full set of As if he'd put in the effort. All his teachers told him this before the exams but he wasn't interested. In some ways he could have done with getting a bit of a shock because now he's going to think he coast through A levels too.

I'm not at all unhappy with his results but I would have felt really thrilled if he'd worked hard and I knew they were the best he could get. By the way, he is not aware I feel like this. He thinks I'm thrilled.

Quite a few universities currently specify a B in maths and English

Yowser

I'd stop worrying if I were you. Be grateful he's got natural ability. It may well see him through.He may come a cropper at some point but that will be his lookout. Or, like lots of teens he may just mature and knuckle down.