Page 24 | GCSEs 2018 (2)

mmzz · 19/01/2018 19:35

I thought it was just certain subjects that were still on the old G-A* grading system, not certain schools?

Sostenueto · 19/01/2018 19:48

I just get more angry and confused by the whole mess. It was bad enough when the system went comprehensive and I blame the fact that the GCSEs standards were dropping so much that they had to be changed. Two years ago I was speaking to a parent whose child was put in for double science a year early and they got a c. The parent said that was fine because he could keep retaking it till he got an a. I'm afraid that I replied not very tactfully that if he did that then the qualification wouldn't be worth anymore than the paper it was written on. In my day no resits, you passed or failed. And that is what has bought about this hash up of a change in our education system and the fact that universities got fed up with semi literate students who could not even spell and demanded a change to the education system. One example if you got a b in an A level before these new changes that would only have been an e in the 60s.

Sostenueto · 19/01/2018 19:52

I know the comprehensive system is supposed to be fairer but in reality it still streams pupils, it still has divisions between top and bottom and s.. the middle etc etc.

drummersmum · 19/01/2018 20:25

thesecond great results!
I think people will think in terms of generations. So my DS having mostly letters will make him seem older than someone with all numbers. Not good when he's 50!!

Sostenueto · 19/01/2018 21:02

Drummer hilarious!

Sostenueto · 19/01/2018 21:05

Anyways all I say is each DC deserves a medal for trying their best no matter what letter or number they get! And if I was to sit an exam nowadays I'd probably get a craft level................can't remember a flipping thing!

androbbob · 19/01/2018 21:19

The second - great set of results there !

Got a broken unhappy child here - it's nothing specific causing it, but she feels fat (isnt), can't eat and struggling to sleep 😢. I suspect stress is the cause but she can't see that, so has sobbed her heart pout for an hour. She puts a brave face on and no one would suspect she was struggling, but not entirely sure what I can do. She had CBT last year which did her well, so I am thinking a top up session is needed, so have that to sort out next week. Hard work being a teenager these days.

Sostenueto · 19/01/2018 21:31

Bless androbob! My heart goes out to you and your DC!. Are you sure she not being bullied at school or on line? Or is she due her monthly? My dgc is absolutely weepy and down a week before hers. Is she suffering from exam stress? No child or human cries for no reason, must he something if only hormonal. Maybe is a bit run down? Whatever it is hope she recovers soon. Love and cuddles a wonderful cure!

androbbob · 19/01/2018 21:40

Thanks Sostenuto - it will be a combination of all those things, but she can't see that. She was diagnosed with general anxiety a few years ago and is an over thinker in general. All I can do is just sit and listen to the sobs and get her to talk through things. She is paranoid that she can hear noises in the night and fears we are going to be broken into. Food wise her choices are not great so we are going to talk through that tomorrow. She has a younger brother who gets a lot of time invested in running him around for sport so she is often the 'forgotten child' but I have tried to make sure she gets her to me. But being nearly 16 she wants her independence as well.

We have parents eve on Wednesday so that will be interesting.

All her exams are numbers apart from phsycology

Sostenueto · 19/01/2018 21:45

As long as she has your attention and you can talk together I'm sure with such a loving mum she will begin to cope with it all. So so hard nowadays for them, so much peer pressure, so much school performance pressure, so much social media pressure, the list us endless! Life was much more easier in my day! Bless you both hope all works out well for you all

Nettleskeins · 19/01/2018 21:55

So essentially a 5 one year might mean something different from a 5 another year, because the cohort is taken into account? Or are there cross referencing between different exam years? So you might literally get 59 marks but the 59 marks last year might get you a different grade/put you at a different grade boundary, because this year so many people get 59, and the proportion of 5's has to stay roughly the same?

I find it fascinating. I love all the statistics side of exam marking, despite being very unmathematical. It is basically code, the marks don't actually mean what they say except in a relative way for this specific exam and this specific year and this specific cohort.

Nettleskeins · 19/01/2018 21:57

Even if the 59 marks is gained on a similar paper this year as last year, it is the cohort that determines the grade not the difficulty of the paper alone.

Sostenueto · 19/01/2018 22:49

Well yes nettleskins, sort of. That is why I went on about sat results. They look at sat results for that years cohort, also look at how well the cohort performed. Then they take into account how hard the exams were and then how many should get a 4/5 and a 7 as they are using those grades as tethering points and then they compare with the last years results and then they........come up with a load of stats and plonk them on grade boundaries!

Sostenueto · 19/01/2018 22:55

If you think like this......roughly 50% of cohort will get a 4/5. Roughly 25% will get a 1-3. Roughly 25% will get a 7-9 with the top 2% getting the super 9.

So if you gave a really good cohort one year the grade boundaries will be high. If the cohort for next isn't as good the grade boundaries will be lower. But the proportions of each grade stay the same. Well at least I think that's his it works nettles but I really am not sure as it us so so confusing!

Sostenueto · 19/01/2018 23:08

I mean how can they have 2 different exam papers being exactly the same ability. Some papers will be easier in some years and some will be harder. I mean, bear with as I'm not good at explaining! My dgd doing past papers will find one paper easier than another. How can they be weighted exactly the same? No idea! So lots if stats, lits if measurements o come up with grade boundaries. So much easier if they just stuck to 40% for a 4 50% for a 5 60% for a 6 70% for a 7 80% for an 8 and 90% for a 9. Then it won't matter so much, but nooooooo! That's too simplistic! In some exams last year you only needed 36% for a 6! Some even said you only needed to get 8 questions right on the maths papers to get a 5! I know they made allowances which will not be given thus year so I heard, but not 100% on that! So its like the lottery really. All I can say is I feel so sorry for the DC!

Sostenueto · 19/01/2018 23:14

Of course, the real co fusion will set in when they introduce grade 10.

Sostenueto · 19/01/2018 23:16

Only a Tory government could dream up our exam system!

Sostenueto · 19/01/2018 23:23

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GCSE and A level awarding in 2018

Posted by: Cath Jadhav, Posted on: 19 January 2018 - Categories: A levels and GCSEs
We, like schools and colleges, are already looking ahead to this summer’s exams. This year there are more new AS and A level subjects and 9 to 1 GCSEs being awarded for the first time. They include the new GCSE science suite of qualifications, GCSE and A level geography, dance, drama and music, GCSE history, and GCSE and A level French, German and Spanish. We also have the second year of awards for those subjects taken for the first time in 2017, and some unreformed qualifications too. So, how will awarding work for each of these groups this year?

Subjects first awarded in 2018
The list of subjects being awarded for the first time has changed, but our approach for these subjects is the same as in 2017 (and 2016 for new AS); that is, to make sure this year’s cohort is treated fairly.

GCSE subjects graded 9 to 1 in 2018: English, maths, biology, chemistry, physics, combined science, computer science, geography, history, art and design, French, German, Latin, Spanish, classical Greek, dance, drama, music, food preparation and nutrition, physical education, religious studies, citizenship studies. Reformed English and maths were first awarded in 2017.
GCSE subjects graded 9 to 1 in 2018
Reformed AS and A levels in 2018: English literature, English language, English language and literature, art and design, dance, drama and theatre, music, biology, chemistry, physics, computer science, economics, business, psychology, sociology, religious studies, classical Greek, French, German, Latin, Spanish, history, geography and physical education. The following subjects were first awarded in 2017: English literature, English language, English language and literature, art and design, biology, chemistry, physics, computer science, economics, business, psychology, sociology and history.
Reformed AS and A level subjects being awarded in 2018
We will again follow the principle of comparable outcomes to carry forward standards in the first year of the new qualifications. Exam boards will be relying heavily on the statistical evidence to do this, but also using senior examiners to check the grade boundaries that the statistics are pointing to.

In the new A levels, this means that, provided the 18-year-old cohort is similar to previous years in terms of their previous GCSE results, national results in a subject in 2018 will look similar to results in 2017 in that subject.

In the new 9 to 1 GCSEs, exam boards will use predictions to anchor standards to the legacy A* to G GCSEs. This means that, if the 16-year-old cohort is similar to previous years in terms of their previous key stage 2 attainment, the proportion of students who achieve grade 4 and above in any new subject will be similar to the proportion that previously achieved grade C and above. The same principle applies to grade 7/grade A and grade 1/grade G.

Grade 9 in the new GCSEs will be set using the ‘tailored approach’ formula. This means that across all subjects (when all GCSEs are graded 9 to 1) about 20% of those students achieving grade 7 or above will achieve a grade 9. The proportion for an individual subject might be higher or lower than 20%. In summer 2017 GCSE maths, for example, 19.9% of students achieved a grade 7 or above, and 3.5% achieved a grade 9 – that’s about 18% of those achieving a 7 or above.

There are several reasons for taking the approach outlined above for the new qualifications.

We know from our research on the sawtooth effect, that student performance dips a little in the first years of a new qualification, because teachers are less familiar with the new specifications, and there are fewer support materials and past papers for students to use. Using statistics compensates for that dip, so that the 2018 cohort is not unfairly disadvantaged by being the first to sit these new qualifications.
The changes to these qualifications would make it challenging for senior examiners to compare the quality of student work this year in response to papers that are different in content and style to those in previous years.
Using the statistics means that we can have confidence that the grade standards are aligned between different exam boards in a subject, so that it is no easier to achieve a particular grade with one board than with another.
Subjects first awarded in 2017
Summer 2018 also sees the second full cohort awards of GCSE English language, English literature and maths. Exam boards will be using statistical predictions to maintain the standards set in 2017. These predictions will be based on the national results for 16-year-olds in 2017. Predictions will also be used for grade 9, based on the national grade 9 outcomes in 2017. We expect to see changes in the overall cohort this year, as the entry will include significantly more post-16 students who will mostly be re-sitting their exams. As such, overall results might look different, but we expect that results for the 16-year-old cohort will be similar to 2017.

For the second awards of the new A levels first awarded in 2017, exam boards will also use statistical predictions to carry forward the standards set in 2017 at grades A*, A and E. These predictions will be based on the national results for 18-year-olds in 2017. If this year’s cohort is similar in terms of prior attainment, we expect to see similar results in summer 2018.

Other GCSEs and A levels
For all other AS and A level qualifications, exam boards will continue to use predictions for 18-year-olds based on their prior attainment at GCSE, and for GCSE they will use predictions based on key stage 2 outcomes.

Coming soon
I will be blogging on various topics over coming months, published here and also in our ‘9 to 1 news’ and ‘Exam matters’ newsletters. I will be taking a detailed look at the new GCSE science suite, providing an update on our research looking at tiering choices in GCSE maths, and letting you know how we will approach the first awards of the new A level maths specifications in 2018. Do let me know if there’s a topic you’d like me to cover by leaving a comment below.

Cath Jadhav
Associate Director, Standards and Comparability

Navigating the qualifications landscape
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