Anyone still interested in GCSE grade boundaries?

[BertrandRussell]

I've just been talking to ds's Performing Arts teacher. He got an unexpected B-and not a high B at that.

She says that he got 107 marks out of a possible 120 - and that was a mid to low range B. Useful ammunition if anyone tells you that GCSEs are getting easier......

That is tough given there are 2 higher grades than that!

Bertrand , ( and I will probably make something of a fool of myself here ) do you ( or those who mark performing arts) , think that these are more "subjectively" marked exams & therefore less predictable. To a lesser extent when DS was doing the likes of History / English GCSE & A Level , the urban myth was results were less predictable. I am most likely wrong.

Does it actually matter to him ? DS has always taken the attitude ( school exams ) if it gets you to the next stage , it is good enough.

What were the percentages getting each grade? The exam could have been very easy - I'm not convinced grade boundaries say a lot by themselves.

Yeah DD scored 93% in her drama GCSE - which earned her an A.

I am very pleased that she got an A and she worked really hard, but I do wonder (and I speak as a teacher) what percentage you had to get to achieve A*!!

"What were the percentages getting each grade? The exam could have been very easy - I'm not convinced grade boundaries say a lot by themselves"

I don't know- I'd really like to. But it wasn't an exam-it was 60% course work-40% performance.

Dd Drama result was similar. She didn't do badly but the grade margins were so narrow that her essay paper (one of which she didn't finish) brought the performance down overall. She knew she only had about 6 marks to play with. In fact it was also true of some other subjects where a % in high 80s was an A at best. Incidentally in 2018 the drama will be 40:60 performance to written so anticipate changes in boundaries again as many candidates currently rely on full performance scores.

AQA and Edexcel have already published their grade boundary tables and grade boundary statistics. Is it AQA? Drop more than 2 marks in each module and you get a B - not an easy option then.

www.aqa.org.uk/exams-administration/results-days/grade-boundaries-and-ums/raw-mark-grade-boundary-tables
www.aqa.org.uk/exams-administration/results-days/results-statistics

thanks for links Clavinova