League Tables using Grade 5 as a "pass" for GCSE?

[Boyskeepswinging]

Why do the league tables published today report on the percentage of children achieving Grade 5 in English and Maths?
I thought that most universities, colleges etc class a Grade 4 as a pass, not a 5?

I'm confused about this as well - what is a Grade 5 in old money? A low B/ High C?

It just makes our local options look terrible to be honest.

The league table states that: Grade 5 in the new grading is a similar level of achievement to a high grade C or low grade B in the old grading so it admits itself it is basing the numbers on non-equivalent grades.

My understanding is that a Grade 4 is equivalent to a old C grade so why don't the league tables report on this?

I'm with you, One, it's hard to understand what is happening in the schools with these percentages.

It is very confusing, my dd had to get a 4 to be able to do the courses she wanted to do at college, that was considered a pass?

I saw grade 4 and grade 5 is ours and was quite interesting to see difference. I don't like the Ebacc thing though so you don't count if you don't do that. Our school has gone down from well above to above on progress 8 but its interesting its looks like its all the boys results and girls results are holding up.

I think that when the new GCSE grading was announced 5 was a pass then it was realised that wasn’t attainable for some so made 4 a pass.

Pandas DO NOT get me started on the EBacc thing. I had to fight tooth and nail for the school to allow my DS to take the GCSEs he wanted to do because they don't qualify for the EBacc. But for the course he wants to do at uni and his future career they are perfect
While I don't want to sound like a conspiracy theorist, does all this have a nasty whiff of Gove about it?

I think that when the new GCSE grading was announced 5 was a pass then it was realised that wasn’t attainable for some so made 4 a pass
Yeh, I can believe this but then why continue to report on Grade 5?

Cynically I guess there aren’t the resources available for all those getting level 4 to retake!

Cynically I guess there aren’t the resources available for all those getting level 4 to retake!
But why do they have to retake when universities class a 4 as a pass?

I thought I read that at first 4 would be a pass then it would be increasing to a 5.

Maybe it is increasing to a 5 this year then?

My dd took them last summer and it was a level 4 and above and no retake was needed.

DD doesn't want to do Ebacc either as wants two languages and now humanities. Just found out RE is compulsory at her school, not happy. Can see battles looming. Though DD told me she wanted me to teach her how to argue as she says I always win.

now should be no

I am a secondary school teacher. Initially after the reforms to GCSE 5 was going to be the C equivalent. The government then changed the goalposts just before the first set of exams. A 4 is an equivalent C pass but not a good pass. A 6 is equivalent to a B grade. A 5 is a high C equivalent. The whole thing is a right royal pain.

A 6 is equivalent to a B grade
But most universities appear to consider a 5 equivalent to a B grade. There is no consistency.

The whole thing is a right royal pain
Could not agree more and I don't think these league tables have helped one iota.

When they wanted the grades to match international standards they set the pass as a 5. They knew many would not meet this standard so they said a 4 would count for a while then it would be a 5 but people objected saying that if a 4 was a pass it should stay a pass or it wouldn't be fair on the first students.

The compromise was that a 4 was a pass for students but the schools were expected to aim for 5 as a pass for their league tables. How the grades will be viewed in future by universities and employers remains to be seen.

Basically the whole thing is a fudge.

It should be a 4 as that it what was agreed to be a 'pass' before the results were released. It's what schools, colleges and universities are using too. It's daft for the league tables to not be consistent with that.

The main issue is there are more grades than there use to be so few anchor points.

The guides sent out last year and the year before all said:

4 - grade c
7 - grade a

The rest slot in around them.

So most took that as a:

4 - low to mid c
5 - high c / low b
6 - b
7 - a
8 - a*
9 - the top few percent (approx 2-4%) in that subject

Schools are judged on a 5. Kids were supposed to be getting 5s and a forced resit in maths/English if they didn’t but the government bottled it 5 weeks before the first cohort sat the new GCSEs and said 4 would be good enough not to resit now and forever. So there’s now a mismatch as they still want schools to aim for a 5.

RE is compulsory at her school
I think it is compulsory at a lot of schools because they have to teach it anyway so they feel they might as well get a qualification in it. It probably doesn't take up space for another subject as they would be doing those lessons anyway (mind you, I don't know why it doesn't count as a humanity).

I still don't trust them not to make a 5 the pass in a few years when the new curriculum has bedded in a bit.

This was what ds’s school gave us last year. I found it helpful to get a understanding of old vs new.

It's crap making RE compulsory, because it doesn't count as an humanity for EBacc. Why don't they make history compulsory am smarting about this currently as we've just found out it's compulsory at DD's school too, and we and she are hacked off!

5 is a strong pass, 4 is a "standard" pass. I think 4 was introduced purely to avoid a 20-30% drop in the 'pass' rates...
A 5 isn't a B anywhere I've seen, a 6 is a B.

Just wanted to thank everyone for replying. I think I've now got a better understanding of how this has happened but oh my goodness, it's a right mess isn't it?
Scary, too, when schools that are considered "OK" (ie not dreadful, not fantastic, just run of the mill comps) are getting less than 30% passing at Grade 5 in Maths and English.

A 5 isn't a B anywhere I've seen, a 6 is a B.

If you look on all the tables sent out via Ofqual last year a 6 is a solid B. A 5 is between a C and a B - so high C/low B.