GCSE’s summer 2020 thread 5 - And then there were none..

[FoolsAssassin]

Once upon a time there was a group of year 11 students who had spent the last few years preparing to sit their GCSE exams in the summer of 2020. Then one day they woke up and found themselves as characters in a real life disaster movie and as if by magic the exams disappeared.

What lies next for the Corona Cohort?!

Thread 4
Thread 3
Thread 2
Thread 1 (Year 10)

Anyone lurking please feel free to jump on in .

I have said all along noble. That's pretty much how they announced school closures after all : to the general public, after the end of a teaching day....

I think AS will have a surge in entries next year. But all exam entries cost money, so perhaps only in schools which can afford the extra hit.

Exam boards reduce costs for AS and we don’t claim refunds for this year’s exams?

Most schools have pulled A levels down to 3 and dispensed with AS so after the Corona Cohort GCSEs how many would opt for AS levels?

I didn’t realise AS was still an option?

They do still exist : a few subjects withdrew them this year. But they are definitely still a thing. Everyone does them in the sixth form college near me.

Sorry, posted too soon. All 3 6th forms/colleges we visited only offered you to take 3 or 4 full A levels

I think this is what may change.

I think that’s shocking if they do Friday evening. They should time it so that staff have time to digest and contact parents.

School announcement was that they need to complete via distance a 5 week intense project similar to EPQ or they won’t get a good reference. (Year 11)

Also that if they get grades under what’s required they’ll need to do an aptitude test to make sure they’re ‘good enough’.

They’ve said other sixth forms will do that too.

@sorrelli ...eh???

@wheresthebeach

I know! Not quite the support my already anxious DD needed, she’s in tears.

All this without even knowing what the DfE announcement will be.

They’ll also be setting work.

Cor @Sorrelli that's harsh re the aptitude tests. Really sorry that your dd is upset.

I quite like the idea of some sort of EPQ though as I dread to think how much ds' brain is going to fester without anything to do. I know he ought to get on with reading around his A levels but it's not obvious to him or to me how to structure this and he's not a self-starter (being 15 this seems fair enough).

If he does a properly engaging, mind-expanding, critical thinking using project and learns to cook/use washing machine then I think he'll have really lucked out. So much more valuable than the grimness of revision.

@patiencevirtue

Yes it does seem like a nice idea but dd just wanted to get on with revision for re-taking exams or towards her post 16 options but I suppose it won’t hurt. She’s 15 too.

It is not unusual for sixth forms to have aptitude tests at start of Y12. DS1's school did that if you did not have the right grades for maths/science but wanted to do A level. It was a second chance to prove yourself

I think there is the world of difference between starting an EPQ - which I suggested to DD would be a good idea. Might as well start researching ideas, getting a head start etc and holding it over their heads re: a reference. The reference should be based on the last 2 years, not by holding a gun to their heads. That’s so stressful.

I'm glad I've found this thread. My dc is in Year 11 and school have set no work whatsoever. When queried, their official line was that they know their students, they have continually assessed them and trust the teachers to make a fair and accurate judgement on their grades. Predicted grades would be good enough for her but she does feel she has improved a lot since then so hopefully that will be reflected in grades awarded.
The only concession they've made is to suggest that anyone who wishes to do so could so some voluntary research on their chosen subjects for A levels.
This does all sound very reasonable and fair but my dc is really struggling with the lack of structure and I worry it is going to be a huge culture shock when we do return to school. She's helping out with our younger dc with some tutoring and babysitting whilst we wfh but it's just not the same!

@hairycabbageIf it’s any consolation she won’t be the only one with no further teaching or assessments since March coming back for A’levels, so I’m in no doubt all of that will be taken into account. They won’t be resuming expecting students to hit the ground running with A’levels, there will be some new guidance or tweaks to the curriculum.

I think that’s shocking if they do Friday evening. They should time it so that staff have time to digest and contact parents.

@Wheresthebeach I think the idea is the exact opposite. That parents and students have time away, to digest the information without bombarding teachers with angry/concerned calls. The Easter break will give them time to get used to whatever the guidelines are and when school resumes tempers would’ve settled and there’ll be fewer and calmer queries.

Well my current feeling is Harumph...

Mine too Wheresthebeach.

DD's plan was to do AS maths (over 2 years to ease pressure on timetable), in addition to her 3 A levels, and an extended essay vs EPQ, again to maximise the timetable to do other stuff, lion share of hours given over to music and sport. Like Mominatrix's DS, had aspirations for US post A levels. This was approved, though may change now; for a whole host of reasons that are out of her control.

My daughter's halfheartedly completing the work set but there's no way what she's producing will be at the level she was working at at school and what she got in mocks so i'm really hoping they say to not count work done at home or her expected grade would go down!

Just some info from Scotland and the SQA the Scottish exam board who have made an announcement today. Same predicament here as in England in that mixed messages sent by different schools and/or different teachers within the same schools. Some setting work post-20th March saying it would be used to estimate their final Grades or even proposing further home-completed ‘Mocks’ ( we call them Prelims up here).

The SQA have now basically said the teachers need to grade pupils on what they believe would have been their anticipated final grade. We do a hell of a lot of course works/assignments up here and they’ve dropped the bombshell that NONE of this course work that has already been submitted will be marked and not only that, it won’t be returned to the school so that teachers can mark it and use it to help them come to their decision on their pupils’ estimated final grade. It’s a real kick in the teeth. There’s another complication that I barely understand where the number of pupils achieving certain grades has to be in line with the school’s previous year’s results. I’m totally gutted for my DS who worked so hard on his coursework and Art and Music portfolios and compositions and was hoping they’d be taken into consideration in lieu of any exams - but no. What a waste. I really feel sorry for the teachers too having to make these decisions.

I saw that on Scotsnet and my step mother sent me an article. Do exam boards mark coursework in Scotland so?