Surely using mocks for GCSE grades is hugely unfair.

[1nterstar]

Our school did them before Christmas before the whole course was completed, others were doing them this week.

Many kids don’t revise as much for mocks as the real thing( if at all).

The content and marking varies hugely.

Just how can they be used?

[Hercwasonaroll]

Nothing is going to be perfect. But then neither are exams. If you want to read more, this article explains. www.hepi.ac.uk/2019/01/15/1-school-exam-grade-in-4-is-wrong-does-this-matter/

[Bathroom12345]

Of course diligence in mocks makes you likely to get a good grade. The mocks are under exam conditions using past papers. The teachers will know who has improved since then and as a professional will use this information. There is no evidence that all pupils getting poor mocks suddenly get better when the proper exams are sat. You might think YOUR child is different but we won’t ever know.

Mocks are SO important for university entry. Anyone who didn’t realise that has lived in a bubble.

[Unescorted]

Most kids improve on their mock grades - the ones who did well also improve.
Presumably all the kids in the same school sat the same mock - therefore taking CheriLittlebottoms methodology the schools can be baselined using SATS

Yep some kids do fuck all and pull of fantastic grades... but they are in the minority and if they had taken it seriously in the first place instead of doing sfa (hopefully quietly without disturbing the other kids or taking a disproportionate amount of the teaching time in any give class... because they never piss about do they)they would have got even better grades

Kids do mature a lot in a year - all kids.

You appear to be asking for special dispensation for little Johhny piss about/ can't be arsed / immature to be given proportionately higher grades than his peers who have taken the whole school thing seriously. Yes there will be cases where there are circumstances where a child will perform better in the real exam against their mock result than their peers through no fault for their own, but theses factors can be accounted for. I am not convinced being unprepared for them having been given the same opportunity as their class mates is a valid excuse.

[Hercwasonaroll]

I have rarely seen students go up by more than one grade. Usually those that do are the top end and go from 7 to 9 as they learn more content (Maths).

[CheriLittlebottom]

Big jumps? Grade 3 to 6? No.

3 to 4, or 4 to 5, or 8 to 9, yes. They would have been working, hard, and I would have evidence of that which I could use to justify my prediction.

The jumps I think you are talking about would be the equivalent to two years of progress in 7 months.

[FlyingPandas]

As others have said there is no system that can be rigorously and utterly and equally fair for all students.

The exam system as it should have been for this year would have disadvantaged many.

Arguably (and I’m slightly playing devils advocate here) there will be kids who will benefit from their grades being based on teacher assessment and classroom performance, rather than everything riding on a couple of 1hr 45 minute exams taken in a stressed out state.

In the same way that some kids (me for one!) benefited massively from the original heavy course work element for GCSEs. For others (my DH!) coursework was a fucking nightmare and 100% exam would have been vastly preferable.

It is never a level playing field. All they can do now is offer a solution that seems fairest across the board. And that surely has to be a combination of predicated grades, mocks, teacher assessment and classroom performance, with the option to do a resit in the autumn if students are unhappy with an allocated grade.

I have a y11 DS who would more than likely have leapt up a grade between mocks and real exams and is gutted he’ll never have the chance to prove that. The situation is so bloody tough for them. But I really don’t see what else the exam boards can do under the current circumstances.

[TrainspottingWelsh]

Nobody has said they are being based solely on mocks. And it's ridiculous to assume they should have had a back up plan for entire cohorts. The only thing that is definite is the right to appeal for those dc that are short changed by whatever method they decide to implement, so there's no point ranting until we know what will happen.

I imagine that dd's affluent independent with ample resources and a minority of vulnerable dc could probably manage to keep y11 and y13 and run exams, even with the disadvantage of current staff shortages. But it doesn't take much imagination to realise every other school in the country isn't in the same position.

My y11 is perfectly aware that worrying about whether she might drop a grade or have to appeal is a privilege right now, when others her age are worrying about food and a safe home over the next few months.

[Bathroom12345]

Think that the OP has some strange views. Maybe in their world pupils do SFA for mocks. Not in my world. As a parent I would not have accepted that sort of behaviour.

[1nterstar]

But what is a good grade? 4,5,6,7 or 8? A good grade varies hugely for children who vary hugely in ability. They’re kids and vary hugely in maturity, life experience, circumstance and ability.

I also think kids vary in how much parental support they get. I have friends who had no interest in mocks. Schools seem to push the real thing more than mocks as regards support. If kids get zero support at home that’s not really their fault is it.

[GuyFawkesDay]

After 15+ yrs I'm pretty good at nailing grades now. One either way happens. Two? Rarely.

I think we will be asked to provide a grade range based on past performance data and teacher based predictions.

[Unescorted]

If kids get zero support at home that’s not really their fault is it. no, but it isn't likely that is going to change between the mocks and the real thing.

[1nterstar]

And then we get the private v state schools issue.Private schools aren’t shy in inflating their prowess. I hope teacher assessment is monitored across both sectors and expected to be the same.

Also hope their robust appeals system is manned well. I suspect they’ll be inundated.

[GuyFawkesDay]

Oh they're told they need to work hard for the whole course.

Slacking off and hoping to "make up grades" rarely works. And this year that strategy had monumentally been exposed.

[1nterstar]

Unescorted yes it is. Ime the kids with zero support get everything thrown at them in school which can bring off good results.

[Hercwasonaroll]

If they get zero support for mocks they won't get much for the real exams.

There are so many variables that education will never truly be fair.

Are you a teacher? (pretty clear from your posts you aren't). If not why do you not trust the teachers to award the grades they think your child is capable of based on their mocks /classwork/homework?

[CheriLittlebottom]

I also think kids vary in how much parental support they get. I have friends who had no interest in mocks. Schools seem to push the real thing more than mocks as regards support. If kids get zero support at home that’s not really their fault is it.

Jesus, OP, you are preaching to the choir on this one. There's a fair few teachers on here now, we KNOW this. And these circumstances would be reflected in their real GCSE grades as well.

[FlyingPandas]

Yes but @1nterstar that logic would still apply for the main exams. Kids getting zero support at home for mocks would get zero support at home for the real thing. Etc etc. Some kids don’t take mocks seriously. Tbf, some don’t take the real thing that seriously either (I’m an invigilator, we see it all the time).

I get what you are saying that some kids need the wake up call of crap mock results to give them a kick up the bum but unfortunately we are where we are.

[1nterstar]

But those sitting mocks now have a huge advantage re slacking off. Kids aren’t slacking off now. The ones who sat pre Christmas were just getting to grips with the reality of year 11, everything becomes clearer further into the year.

[Hercwasonaroll]

They will compare the teacher assessment with the grades they expect to get county wide. Ofqual will then make the necessary adjustments and award the grades. This will stop grade inflation.

[1nterstar]

Flying schools put on interventions plugging gaps for those with zero support.

[CheriLittlebottom]

No-one is sitting mocks now, op, you are seriously clutching at straws now.

[Unescorted]

the kids with zero support get everything thrown at them in school which can bring off good results. the same will have applied to the mocks

[Pieceofpurplesky]

What is your DC predicted OP? What were their mock results?

[BabbleBee]

www.change.org/GCSE2020ToGoAhead

Petition to reinstate GCSE exams.

[1nterstar]

I have friends whose dc were apparently sitting them this week.

Some also sat after Christmas and some before.