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Original poster

Progress from mock exams to the real GCSEs

28 replies

HeadbandsandFlowers · 01/12/2018 08:54

Hi.
Dd has just finished her mock exams. I am so proud of the way she prepared for and coped with them after a bit of a rough time with hormones, health issues and friendship issues.
She got her maths mark back this week and she got a high level 6, She was happy with this (as was I) - 6’s will get her into her chosen a level courses and are a equivalent to a B in the old marking scheme.
She said her teacher was a bit grumpy because only one child got a level 7 and that was the highest in the class (top set y11!) this seems quite poor , I have no experience of high school teaching but would imagine a top set would get some 7/8 grades?
Would you expect to see a jump in grades from the mock exam results to the real thing or are the locks a good indicator of the final results?

OP posts:
TeenTimesTwo · 01/12/2018 09:55

You'd hope that in the next 6 months there would be some improvement. Either from learning some more topics, so they can attempt harder questions, or by improving skill and understanding on what they have already covered.

I personally think the results sound a bit low for a top set, unless you are a non-grammar in a grammar area.

EverardDigby · 01/12/2018 10:51

This question was answered on another thread, maybe the big GSCE one also in this topic, so I'm repeating someone else who said they thought perhaps a grade increase from mocks. I think you can do more with more work though. I would also expect higher grades in the top set, is there an issue with the teaching do you think? Or are they being set questions they haven't covered?

Dermymc · 01/12/2018 10:57

What subjects? I know that the subjects just going through the 1-9 reform this year will be reluctant to award above a 7 because they don't really know what that looks like. I'd take 6s now and hope for 7 or above in the summer.

Cauliflowersqueeze · 01/12/2018 11:00

Mock grades are a better indicator of final performance than predicted grades.

In our analysis, improvement from mock to real exams was about an increasing 0.5 of a grade, meaning that roughly half stayed the same and roughly half went up one. There will be the occasional one that goes up 2 grades but it’s really rare. It’s also rare for the grade to go down from mock to real exam.

EverardDigby · 01/12/2018 11:04

Actually yes the 7s thing, some teachers are predicting 9s for DD but others 7s even though she got 9 in mocks. It's all very confusing. They are being given 8s and 9s on tests and exams, it's just the predicted grade that doesn't change.

Cauliflowersqueeze · 01/12/2018 11:13

Nobody should get a grade for a piece of work. The exam has multiple questions and usually more than one paper, the TOTAL of which is the grade.

CuckooCuckooClock · 01/12/2018 11:23

Whether grades go up between mocks and the real thing depends on lots of things. Some of my top set last year did no revision at all for their mocks and got U! That gave them the kick up the bum needed to put some work in.
Predicting between 7,8 and 9 is really hard and sometime I will tactically predict low because someone isn't working hard enough.

EverardDigby · 01/12/2018 11:34

Nobody should get a grade for a piece of work. The exam has multiple questions and usually more than one paper, the TOTAL of which is the grade.

I agree with this, but lots of kids now are doing a full set of papers, and also if you are getting high marks on a range of individual questions (not just a handful) and you are confident across the syllabus it gives you a pretty good idea, particularly right at the top in the more factual subjects where you're not dropping any marks or only the occasional one.

noblegiraffe · 01/12/2018 12:58

If she sat the June 2018 maths exam and used the actual grade boundaries then this will be a pretty good indicator of where she’s at now. I agree that going up half a grade to a grade is a good rule of thumb for maths. Some will go up by more, but generally they will have worked really hard for it.

I’m not surprised that the teacher is disappointed with only one student getting a 7, I expect their targets will be much higher! My group ranged from 7 to 9 in the mocks but they are a really strong group.

ColdTattyWaitingForSummer · 01/12/2018 13:06

It definitely is possible to improve lots from mock to actual exam though. Although more with essay subjects which are as much about exam technique as subject knowledge. I will tell the story of ds1 who got a 3 on a mock / past paper for English literature, he also got some feedback and advice on how to answer the questions. He worked really hard in the run up to the exam and improved his grade to a 6. (Slightly different scenario as he was home ed at that point, but improving 3 whole grades in a month is still pretty good!)

Original poster
HeadbandsandFlowers · 01/12/2018 14:19

They sat 3 exams, two calculator and one non calculator (or possibly the other way round but the same as they do in the actual exam in summer)
From her sats results she was predicted an A then when it changed to the numbers she was predicted an 8 so it is quite a lot lower and if only one pupil out of 30 in a top set - there are grammar / private schools in the area but not a huge number of them that would make the cohort lower achieving- got a 7, which is a good grade but not amazing, it would raise questions about the quality of teaching.

OP posts:
Original poster
HeadbandsandFlowers · 01/12/2018 14:21

She did a lot of revision and is up to date with her homework and classwork so it isn’t as if she didn’t put the effort in.

OP posts:
Cauliflowersqueeze · 01/12/2018 15:57

From her sats results she was predicted an A then when it changed to the numbers she was predicted an 8 so it is quite a lot lower

No it’s not.

A = 7
A* = 8
A** = 9

noblegiraffe · 01/12/2018 16:01

An 8 covers what would have been a high A as well as a low to mid A*, so it’s conceivable an A prediction would convert to an 8.

Bestseller · 01/12/2018 16:05

I sometimes think mocks are designed to "scare" children into working harder after Christmas and papers are marked on the harsh side to avoid complacency setting in.

I suspect that's doubly true this year as teachers dont really.know how papers will be marked or where grade boundaries will be

noblegiraffe · 01/12/2018 16:09

That’s not true for maths, the new maths GCSEs have had 4 sittings already.

Bestseller · 01/12/2018 16:16

Yes, DS1 did the first sitting of the 1-9 maths gcse Noble. But DS2 who will do it this year is still being told by his teachers that it wlll be harder this year and they don't know where grade boundaries will be I don't if that's true or they have some other reason for saying it.

Is it your experience that mocks are marked harshly to avoid complacency?

While you're there he's just scored between 42 & 44 /80 on the three papers but hasn't been given a grade. About a 6?

TeenTimesTwo · 01/12/2018 16:24

I think the quite a lot lower from the OP meant that her DD's result of a 6 in mocks is quite a lot lower than the 8 she was predicted. At least that's how I read it.

Original poster
HeadbandsandFlowers · 01/12/2018 17:07

Thank you for all your replies
Yes teentimestwo I meant the 6 was lower than the predicted 8.
How can it be fair that they are harshly marked just because they are new, so a child that could have achieved an A might now get a 6 because it is different. Doesn’t sound fair to me.
I will be happy if she passes and gets the grades to go to 6th form as long as she puts the effort in.

OP posts:
EverardDigby · 01/12/2018 17:13

I think they've been quiet leniently marked in the actual exams - or maybe that's not quite the right way of putting it - the grades boundaries have been quite low in % terms, but the teachers right now are marking them harshly to be on the safe side and avoid complacency / comeback when students don't get predicted grades.

EverardDigby · 01/12/2018 17:16

Here's an old article from The Times about the last lot www.thetimes.co.uk/article/gcse-grade-boundaries-to-be-lower-7qdmz9zvf?shareToken=ae4e2d7dc3fcd574661b8b46d55ec7d2

TeenTimesTwo · 01/12/2018 17:18

Head
Broadly speaking, the same percentage that got an A/A* in the old system will get a 7-9 in the new system.
But in maths it won't necessarily be the same children due to the more wordy questions and some schools adapting better than others. (e.g. My DD1 would have done worse in the new GCSE as her interpretation of text is iffy).

Also ( noble will correct me if I'm wrong) I don't think in maths there is much scope for marking 'harshly' as the mark schemes are pretty clear with little room for opinion.

Personally (but I am confident with maths), I'd be getting the mock papers home and seeing where marks were lost and then making sure revision/practice focussed on weak areas.

TeenTimesTwo · 01/12/2018 17:20

The teachers should also be using the official grade boundaries where mocks have used a full set of previous papers, shouldn't they?

EverardDigby · 01/12/2018 17:24

The teachers should also be using the official grade boundaries where mocks have used a full set of previous papers, shouldn't they?

Well yes, but I think some teachers don't want to draw conclusions that even a row of 9s will lead to 9s in the actual exam. There seems to be a lot of inconsistency in approach between different teachers though.

cantkeepawayforever · 01/12/2018 17:25

DD (top set year 11, good comp) has also just had GCSE mocks.

They used last year's real GCSEs, with last year's grade boundaries, for the Maths exam.

DD was well into the 9s, and wasn't the top of the class. Overall I think the set ranged from 7-9, and in the summer it is typical of the top set (remembering that they have had 2 runs of 1-9 exams already) to get a mix of 8s and 9s, with a couple of 9s from the second set too.