Parents struggling with tiers of GCSE Entry

[Hercwasonaroll]

Ofqual blogged (again) about tiers of entry.

They are very clear that if a student is expected to get a 4 or 5 they should be doing foundation. Some subjects no longer have the grade 3 back up on higher any more.

ofqual.blog.gov.uk/2020/01/23/gcse-tier-entry-in-2020/

Check your child's tier of entry carefully!

It seems wrong to me there is so little overlap in the grades for science.

Would it kill them to allow Science Higher to go down to 3-3 or conversely to allow Science Foundation to go up to 6-6?

Or, and this is a novel idea, how about an Intermediate tier?
So Foundation 1-5, Intermediate 3-7, Higher 5-9.

Or just scrap the tiers (certainly for MFL)

Intermediate would be perfect!

However if a 6 isn't a realistic possibility then you should be doing foundation.

Perhaps clarification that a 5 on a foundation paper is equivalent to 5 on the higher, may be best?

That has always been made very clear.... They are the same thing. On the exam certificate it doesn't say which tier you took. I don't know why people think they are different.

S’pose the certificates don’t arrive until well after the DC has started and settled into 6th form after meeting the entrance requirements.
The ‘villain of the piece’ may well be the print out given on results day?

We don't have tiers any more in English. It's fucking madness, I tell you.

Proggy why would the printout matter? A 5 is a 5.

Surely it would shoe the exam board, code and tier?

*show?

It would, but why would that matter?

It would if a 6th form is differentiating between a 5 on foundation and a 5 on higher.
Hence, surely the question should be asked ‘are they the same’?

For A Levels a student shouldn't be taking them if they have got a 5 on either paper to be honest. They will struggle a lot.

In terms of passing the qualification a 4 or 5 on higher or foundation are the same.

The kids getting a 4/5 on foundation or higher will have answered the same questions - there’s a 20% overlap on the papers.

Would it kill them to allow Science Higher to go down to 3-3

But grade 3 material isn’t tested on the paper, the ‘grade 3’ isn’t actually a grade 3 as such, it’s a safety net grade added in to try to stop borderline students getting a U. So a 4-3 is a safety net. What would a 3-3 be? It would represent science departments really entering kids for the wrong tier, which should be discouraged. They only added a 3-3 at the last minute the first year because otherwise it would have been a disaster.

In my sons' school it was a 6 or above to sit the higher papers. I believe we were informed in writing of what exam our child was being entered into and to check all the details on the sheet with regard to tiers.

We were always given information about this at parents' evenings in years 10 and 11.

But I agree a lower, intermediate and higher paper. Cover everyone, all levels of ability.

So, ‘for A levels a student shouldn’t be taking them if they got a 5 on either paper to be honest. They will struggle a lot.’
So why ask the question that parents ought to check which tier their DC is sitting, if a grade 5- no matter which tier- won’t be sufficient for A level study?

Parents should check the tier to ensure their child has the best chance of getting the best grade and to ensure their child doesn't leave with a U in any subject.

GCSEs aren't just a gateway to A Level study.

I'm very confused by your post to be honest.

As I am of yours.
Let’s just leave it at that.

I was the one that posted about a sixth form wanting a 5 on the higher tier and not the foundation tier. It wasn't in the subjects the student was actually taking for A Level. DS is likely to get a 7+ in physics (the subject he actually wants to study) but one sixth form insists he must get 5 on the higher tier in biology and chemistry.

I think this advice is interesting as it's what DC's school has been saying (they won't enter you for higher unless they think you can get 6+) but not what it seems other schools advise.

Back in the day, there were 3 papers for maths. I remember I had to take the higher paper and the middle paper. The papers were marked separately and you got whatever was the higher grade (so if you had a disaster on the higher paper you had a fallback "C" on the middle paper). Maybe that's a better method?

They really should introduce intermediate so that kids in the middle don't have to sit tests where they answer such a low percentage of questions that they feel stupid and have an agonising wait for August.

Here's an idea, how about letting the experts, the teachers decide. I was surprised they entered dd for higher as she is dyslexic and had struggled in English and French but she got 6's and a b in French - the teacher was right to stretch her

oooh I'd not want to scrap tiers in MFL. Foundation paper is definitely accessible in a way that higher just wouldn't be for a lot of candidates.

okie I'm happy to let the teachers decide.

But, it seems a shame to me that someone predicted a 5 should, according to guidance, not be given the chance to try for the 6.

After all they let all the 8 students aim for a 9, (which in my view is a totally unnecessary grade just leading to unnecessary pressure on top students.)

Why did they get rid of intermediate maths?