GCSEs 2018 (12) Are we nearly there yet?!

[mmzz]

cblue I can't x-ref it, but there is something on the government website which confirms that a fixed percentage (based on cohort expectations) will achieve 7-9, then certain proportions within that band will be awarded each grade. They are going to do the same with the grade 4s and 5s. Therefore there is absolutely no reason to fret about grade boundaries, as they are meaningless. If the top % in a particular subject is 20%, that student will get the grade 9!

I think grade boundaries are useful to the extent that when our DC are preparing for exams, knowledge of the likely grade boundaries gives them an idea of whether they are making progress. Otherwise, it might be tempting to fall into some fixed thinking where a student thinks that they aren’t very good, so there is no point in trying because they’ll always be a 3 (say).

This will probably help in terms of how grades will be awarded..

ofqual.blog.gov.uk/2017/04/05/setting-grade-9-in-new-gcses/#attachment_13267

The bottom table estimates proportions of % children in each grade.

DD did Paper 2 AQA Biology higher. She found it 'fine' - but it seems it was a good 'fine' since she "knew more of the detail this time" and was fairly confident that she answered all questions correctly apart from one 2 mark question where she may have misremembered the answer.

Wondering if DS did a different AQA biology (separate GCSE) to everyone else's DC as he said it was weird and hardly had any biology content in. No further details given. Maybe he just really doesn't like biology!

DD did AQA Biology as a separate science adrinkofwater and said a couple of questions were slightly odd but mostly it was more mainstream than paper 1.

DS, fulsome as always has offered me this on the Biology exam from this morning:

"It was good."

That's Biology paper 2 Edexcel triple (higher).

Only another 4/25 papers left. DS thinks it still a lifetime away, but I have that wind down to the holidays feeling, even though i actually have a lot of work to catch up on, having spent too much time trying to help / encourage DS.

Dgd said questions were straightforward on biology paper. Will have more feed back on what questions were on when she gets home as she is concentrating on geography now and whizzed off for quick lunch with friends before exam.

Dd2’s verdict on Edexcel (higher?) Biology (triple) is it was very good and much better than paper 1 . Good luck to everyone who has Geography paper 3. Only 3 more after today

Dgd may have answered all questions but not necessarily got them all right. Being as biology very picky with what 'word' you use to get the mark i cannot guarantee she got them all right or actually expect her to.

Re grade boundaries- if they genuinely are doing the grades based on fixed percentages it also resolves one of my other burning questions regarding boundaries across boards. If you assume that there are entries across the same spectrum of abilities then it makes sense to do it this way. It explains why a grade A could be 60% 70% or 80% depending on the exam board. Shame that they don’t make it a bit more transparent/clear for us all!!

I think us parents/grandparents get our knickers/pants in a twist about these exams more than the DC who are actually sitting them!

IMO I have thought easier way was20% for 2, 30% for 3, 40% for 4, 50% for 5, 60% for 6, 70% for 7, 80% for 8 and 90% for a 9 across the board for each exam the same and for each exam board. That is what dgds school does in mocks and assessments.

Cblue...That's my take on it ...if you look at Maths in 2016...IGCSE A was 79% and GCSE A was 85%...so it doesnt really matter how hard/easy the exam is because the grade boundaries will fluctuate and still give an appropriate grade ...and the % of children within given parameters will determine the grade boundary.

Im setting a grade boundary on the sofa with pup. The pup has 1/4 or 0.25 and I have 3/4 or 0.75

Drink of water DD's only comment so far has been that parts of it felt more like a geography paper (she doesn't do geography though) so perhaps that's what your DS meant?
And that she thought she must have missed a page because there was nothing at all on the brain, CNS or DNA or genetics which were the main topics she'd revised.
Overall her comment was "not completely awful"!

My DDs knickers are firmly in a twist

.....on a positive (?) note at least we can say that it doesn’t matter what your score on the test is and all that matters is whether you got more or less than the others people taking the exam.

The new approach is just benchmarking them against each other to determine how they rank nationally rather than determining how much they themselves know. So in theory if the exam was really easy you could score 95% and still only get a Level 6!!!! That’s an unlikely and extreme case (thank goodness) but at least it means we can’t assess (and therefore worry) about their % scores on the papers.

DD did AQA triple higher btw

Environment/ecology runs over between biology and geography. So DVD didn't revise it for biology as she had revised same thing for geography.

As does chemistry/biology and physics/chemistry.

And of course you have maths in all 3 sciences.

Cblue - totally agree ...I think the only issue is when you get easier exams (if there is such an exam).. ...it means you may have 20% (looking at the table on Ofqual) of students who all could fall into the top 2/3% for grade 9's because they are all capable of getting over 90%...if you have a harder exam then it will probably mean that the top 2/3% are easier identifiable - does that make sense - or have I interpreted it wrong?

We could just have pass/fail that way you almost eradicate differences/competition. Think I'm being silly now but car passed mot and pup did not dig up board in border I just put in. So am over elated!

I’m feeling so angry at school this morning, ds sitting Biology triple higher paper 1 today (Y10) and he was sent to wrong room! I’ve had emails going back and forth since April, his teacher made a mistake and put him in for foundation instead of higher, she apologised and said she’d change it. Received new timetable and he was still down for foundation plus double award higher, contacted again she apologised she’d put wrong code in but not to worry he’s in for right exam now. Last week I email again as still not had new timetable, she’d get one sent.
This morning comes ds gets sent to wrong room where he is sitting 2 biology exams ( the wrong ones). His teacher storms in he’s in wrong room and rushes him to correct place where they have a few minutes to get him exam paper!
He’s completed it but says it was very stressful start to his GCSE’s!

@Mytimenow - that's really annoying! I hope your DS wasn't too wound up by it.

Just to throw a spanner into the works about grade boundaries / grades - DS1 school said that the % of DC getting a grade 9 for each subject will vary from subject to subject.

This is because from some subjects (i.e. Ancient Greek and Latin) the DC who sit them tend to be more academic than the whole cohort of 16 year olds. So you will see a greater proportion getting higher grades in these subjects than for subjects where the cohort reflects the full range of ability (maths and English?).

I'm not sure how they make it 'fair' but that's what we were told!