17% for a pass (grade 4 or a C)

[jacobibatoli]

back in the day a pass was an A,B or C and I think a C was about 45%
now it appears that a pass in old money is 17%
and approx only 2/3 get an A*-C
I thought that the fact that only 2/3 could achieve a pass in Maths was very worrying, to find out that the lower limit of that pass is 17% is far worse than I could have imagined

please correct my figures if incorrect

what is happening to our education system
the reduction in the lower limit for a pass has gone under the radar

surely this is a disservice to our kids

That is the rate on the higher paper. Where there are plenty of grades above and only level 4 and above questions. So no low hanging marks.

The percentage needed for a particular grade depends entirely on the number of marks available in the paper at each level, so comparing the pass mark for two different papers is completely meaningless.

The grade boundaries are worked out differently for each paper depending on how easy/hard the papers are. If everyone across the country does badly the boundaries are lower, if everyone does well the boundaries are higher. Approximately the same number of pupils will pass each year as the grade boundaries are altered to reflect that. It also depends on if you do a higher or foundation paper. A higher paper will require much fewer marks to get a 'pass' grade, but it will be much harder to get those marks.

You're not technically wrong OP but you have completely misunderstood the system. So before you write your article do some research. Not MN.

History GCSE last year was 54% for a C grade in our exam board. Haven't got round to checking this year's boundaries (will do when I return to school) but hope that restores your faith.

A pass at GCSE maths this year was also 51%, so more challenging than back in your day, no?

Depends on how hard the exam is, surely?

If everyone across the country does badly and the boundary is then lower seems crazy to me as a ' grade c' for instance could actually represent very poor skills. Surely it should be roughly the same marks each year to pass at certain grades. Am I missing something?

Rain - once exams have settled in the marks are in fact pretty stable from one year to the next.

Grade boundaries are set so that kids do on average as they are expected to do from their KS2 SATs results.

It means that GCSE results are basically set 5 years beforehand by SATs results which are very poorly controlled.

Its not as if everyone passed their exams back in the olden days

Thank you.

I took GCSE Maths in 1999. I did the intermediate paper and got a grade B. I did no revision and basically answered the questions that would now appear in KS3 tests. Averages, percentages simultaneous equations etc.

My son has just taken his GCSEs and got an A/7 in Maths. He got a 5 in his SATS in KS2.

Our test papers were worlds apart. Our capabilities are worlds apart but we are only one grade apart!

I have no idea what any of this means.

Sorry rain I realise I made that sound like there were massive changes each year, as the pp said there aren't most of the time, it will be a couple of marks up or down usually.

☺ ty

but why would the teachers who come up with/conceive the exam in the first place be so far off the mark of what is being taught for a particular age group that only a fraction pass?
how does one go about writing an exam that only has a few questions on it that an average student can answer.
I can't imagine sitting for a 2 hour exam with say 200 questions and answering less than 50%.

Out2pasture surely you must see that has to be the case for some students? If a student will get a level 1 (because that represents what they can achieve - maybe due to SEN) then they will only be able a fifth or so of the questions on the foundation paper.

Equally, a student who got an E in French this year (my subject) answered about two-thirds of the questions correctly (about 20-24 of 35) - probably the easiest 20. I don't see how you get round that, and if there is no tiered paper (eg history) it'll be even more pronounced.

Have you seen the papers?

Shocking. No wonder all the uni kids these days are completely thick.

% can be misleading, if it was a paper made up of adding single integer numbers and you got 100% it wouldn't be impressive really. I mean 1+1=, 1+2=

compare that with something like this:

p and q are two numbers each greater than zero.
√(p2+ 5q) = 8
√(p2– 3q) = 6
Find the values of p and q

Some good news Ttbb, 'all the uni kids' are not completely thick.

Many of them have managed a constantly changing set of assessments and syllabi, and come to university anxious about 'getting it right'. What students aren't ok with is ambiguity and there not necessarily being a 'right' answer.

This isn't new: when I sat GCSE's in 2004 these were the grade boundaries for Edexcel Maths:
Paper 5505 (Non Calculator) - Higher:
A* - 61/100
A - 45/100
B - 29/100
C - 14/100

Paper 5506 (Calculator) - Higher:
A* - 61/100
A - 45/100
B - 29/100
C - 13/100

I got 100% in both exams and part of me is still annoyed that my grade is lumped in with people who got a third of the exam wrong - but that's how standardised marking works.

You have no idea about Higher and Foundation and what it means OP.

Until you understand that simple idea, you won't get the more complex answers above.

By the way, my DH teaches iGCSE at an independent school. In revision practice papers my DS was routinely getting mid As. He got a 6 in the new GCSE. It is definitely hard.

out - you think teachers came up with these demonic new exams? LOL , as they say!