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?

England:

“ The exam boards will be asking teachers, who know their students well, to submit their judgement about the grade that they believe the student would have received if exams had gone ahead.

To produce this, teachers will take into account a range of evidence and data including performance on mock exams and non-exam assessment – clear guidance on how to do this fairly and robustly will be provided to schools and colleges. The exam boards will then combine this information with other relevant data, including prior attainment, and use this information to produce a calculated grade for each student, which will be a best assessment of the work they have put in.”

www.gov.uk/government/news/further-details-on-exams-and-grades-announced

So, students can still take their exams in September, if they want to. Great news!

Who is going to mark them?!!

I think they will be generous with the predictions and colleges will be encouraged to be lax with their entry requirements so that kids who now want a better grade will just say ‘sod it, I’ll move onto my next step’. The number sitting will be very low, I think.

As for who will mark them - I know teachers who have just lost thousands of pounds in income due to the cancellation of exams. Some will be up for it.

I am a senior examiner. I mark 4 contracts a year and have lost in the region of £7k pre tax however I am also a teacher and there is no chance I can mark in September- that’s when my workload is full. In May/June my teaching workload has halved, plus SLT don’t mind me leaving for training meetings at the end of term but will be unlikely to do so in September

Perhaps I could put myself forward to mark maths papers (as a maths graduate with a y10 so I'm pretty up to speed on what's generally needed.)
But there's rules about who can mark aren't there?

I agree, but there will be some who do marking to top up money from tutoring, or who are only part time.

Our Y11s have just disappeared off into the sunset. They won’t be wanting to sit exams in September because they won’t have done any studying since, well, yesterday.

Teaching maths A level to pupils who haven't done maths for 6 months will be fun for you noble

All of this is wild speculation until the government and the exam boards issue schools with further details about what is expected - which they have not done as yet.

We’ve frantically set transition work for the ones that we know are wanting to take A-level, Teen, but yes, we’ll have missed some.

If we have a results day and sixth form registration in the summer(?!) then we can pick up some more then.

I will be using mock data, all assessment data from normal lessons (we do mark all year!), homework data (attitude to learning goes a long way), and effort levels. I have kids who got a 3 in their last official mocks, pulled up their socks hugely and have since achieved 7s in class assessments. I will not be predicting them a 3.

We have analysed progress from Autumn mocks to spring mocks to final results in the last 3 years (since new GCSEs) to plot usual trajectory and all this will be taken into account.

We know kids well enough to know whether mocks are a true reflection and we will predict accordingly. No child will be awarded a grade far below that which they really deserve and as someone upthread said, exams themselves are not ‘fair’. Every year there are many examples of papers going back for re-mark and coming back a grade, two grades, even more higher.

(This is all without official advice from DFE on how to predict, by the way. But I have spent the entire day today scrambling the 40-50 pieces of evidence I have for all of my year 11s)

Re-siting A-Levels once schools are open again is akin to taking a gap year. Will many want to do that?

Will 6th forms be able to wait for these pupils taking 'resists'? Who knows how long it will take for them to happen.

Had a quick scan over the details’ about how my DDs GCSEs are to be graded this year, whilst also trying to ascertain if the business I work for will be able to keep afloat and what help will be given.
So, apologies if the ‘details’ explicitly said that those that are unhappy with their grades could sit again in September.
The way that I read it was that those that were unhappy with their grade could sit at them earliest ‘opportunity’ (?)
Surely this would be the usual November resits?
Or, next year during the 2021- if there is to be one, that is ?

Yes that’s right @proggy

I think this might be the fairest award yet. My DD luckily did well in mocks in Dec and March and her course work was v good according to teachers. So relieved. She’s worked hard for the last 2 years in particular but always works hard. She deserves a good grade.

Same @shadowboy. Feeling a bit lost at the thought of no marking!

@Greenpop21
So, at earliest or September?
My DD has a similar profile to yours-sat 19 papers over 9 days during January mocks and would have sat 28 over 5 weeks at exams proper

DD’s understanding is exams in November if unhappy.

Thanks Green

I work in a centre where 80% of students are entitled to exam access arrangements. We are vehemently encouraged to differentiate for every student, every session.

Much of the time aspiration and attitude is what prevents progress or success. The students who can't be arsed usually get a grade 1 or 2.

Students with disabilities who strive and struggle to achieve their top grades are inspirational. Given the right teaching and guidance they, in my humble experience, always surpass the cba.

I suspect if schools are back in September they will run a special exam series then, right at the start of the year. They will already have papers written so not too difficult to do once the system is up and running again and that will allow students to get a chance at either late university entrance or sixth form admission. It also mean they won’t benefit from extra teaching.

Will the current year 10's and 12's be given allowances when and if they come to sit exams due to the time missed?

Why would y10 & 12 need allowances? They'll all be graded against each other so there's no disadvantage.

Grades to be given out in July so won’t be tests in September.