GCSE double science grade '43' what does this mean?!

[thatcoldfeeling]

Exactly that, can someone quickly help on this?

Double science - grade 1 '43' points (not grade) - 3.5. Does this mean less than a level 1 overall!?

Bump for you

Am still completely confused but now realise this is part of a wider issue with the higher tier double science (cheers Gove, you muppet). I think he may have just failed with 4.4 being a pass. Can't get hold of the school exams office.

If it's the same as our students' sheets (I just back for the school where I teach) it means they got two separate grades of 4 and 3 for double science.

Double science grades are written with a hyphen, was it a 4-3?

Yes, a 4-3 means just missed a 4-4 on the higher paper.

There was no hyphen or anything at all, it was literally written as '43' hence totally baffled!

I have just watched this which seems to suggest as per @MrsacksonAvery that this is one old style grade C pass, and one old style D.

Wish the school exam's office would answer their phone though!

my dds grade was written as "66" turns out it was two sixes.

Two grades - a 4 and a 3.
A 4-4 would be higher.
3-3 (or presumably 3-4) is lower.

It’s a 4 and a 3 would be my understanding. So in old money a C and a D. She’s got two GCSEs for it. One is a C and one is a D, except now we are talking in terms of numbers so 4 and 3. That’s my best guess (science teacher although I’ve not been involved in results today)

It's two GCSEs one 4 and one 3. So yes, like a C and a D in the old system (though the grades aren't exact equivalents).

Science teacher here. We've been using this system for three years now and they aren't two separate grades - one for each GCSE. That's not how it works.

They are a double-weighted average grade of the 2 GCSEs. They add both paper's scores together and then use a finer grading system. So 5-5, 5-4, 4-4, 4-3 etc...

All it means is that she is between a grade 3 and 4 so similar to what would have been a D grade.

He sorry!

wombat - thanks for that explanation but ds did Combined Science and this covered 3 Subjects (Biology, Chemistry and Physics) with 2 papers for each subject. So, I'm not sure how that works out with your explanation of 'both papers'. Bearing in mind Maths isn't a strong point of mine.

Until this year combined science was two sections core and additional which is what was being referred to with the "both papers". Students got a grade for each. Now it's just as previous posters said, all in together then ranging from 11-99

but ds did Combined Science and this covered 3 Subjects (Biology, Chemistry and Physics) with 2 papers for each subject.

Yes there are 2 papers.

Paper 1 comprises of a biology exam, a physics exam and a chemistry exam. (B1, C1 and P1) This is 1 GCSE
Paper 2 is also 3 exams (B2, C2 and P2).

This also used to be the case for core and additional science where you could theoretically get an A a D in the other. Now you get the same grade in both as all 6 exams are linked together iuswim? You couldn't for example get a 6-4 now...

Sorry I know referring to paper 1 is confusing when it's actually 3 papers!

I thought 4-3 was a low 4 whereas 4-4 is a strong 4. Stupid system.

We had the same. My child had 56 and I couldn’t fathom it out. Turns out two grades a 5 and a 6. Took me about 4 hours to work that out / I even googled GCSE grade 56 !!!

combined science, you get 2 grades 43 is above 3 and below 4

so not a pass, sorry

sorry, that should say 34 not 43

Aaaaah - thanks wombat - so all the 1st papers/exams of the 3 subjects is Paper1 and all the 2nd papers of the 3 subjects is Paper2.

Now I understand and it's only 7am.

well, this has me totally confused now as the science teachers at dd school yesterday told me that "66" was two sixes ie, 2 gcses with both a grade 6. Does it make a difference which board it is maybe? my dds results were written "66" with no hyphen - is that different?

ok, this helps
ofqual.blog.gov.uk/2018/03/23/grading-the-new-gcse-science-qualifications/
It is 2 grades, to reflect the fact that it is 2 GCSE's worth of material.

The student will sit 6 exams all together. They then add up the marks from all 6 exams and use this grading scale to determine the grade.

There are 2 numbers to show that the grade is worth 2 GCSEs. However, the double grade is not two distinct grades but rather one grade that is double weighted to account for 2 GCSEs.

So if the student got a 4-3 does not mean that they scored a grade 4 in one GCSE and a grade 3 in the other. It means that overall when both GCSEs are taken into account they scored between a grade 3 and 4.

For example, it isn't possible to get a grade 6-4 or even a 3-4 because the grading numbers must be consecutive with the higher number first.

Here are the boundaries for each grade which show what a student needs from a combined total of 6 exam papers for each grade...

GCSE grades are weird. Back in the dark ages when I did 'O' levels, if you got over 70% you got a grade 1. 1-6 were pass grades, 7-9 and unclassified were fails.
So, now they've gone back to numbers again, why couldn't thaey have had them the same as before.

Now my grade 1 in maths, the only grade 1 I got looks crap......