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 .

[Wheresthebeach]

I think the predicting the possible improvement is a vital and difficult area. Maybe they will lower grade boundaries as an option.

[EwwSprouts]

I guess PE will be an interesting one as scores in the sport assessments presumably have little correlation to performance in the exam hall?

[Wheresthebeach]

DD has said that Art coursework deadlines have been extended. She just got an email from the teacher.

[StrugglingThrough2]

My dd has had nothing from school, there is no sixth form so they don’t have a vested interest in being ready for a levels etc. Dd is down for 4 different 6th forms so nothing secured.

Dd is doing absolutely no subject work, she is instead running errands for elderly neighbours, doing 10k run each day and keep fit with Joe....

She’ll be fit come September but not sure she’ll even remember how to hold a pen!!

[Wheresthebeach]

@EwwSprouts that’s a good point. Hopefully they’ve done enough practice papers to have a good idea of what the kids will get. Its all such a minefield.

[Piggywaspushed]

osk he can't know that yet. Submitted is not the same as marked...

[Piggywaspushed]

Sorry oak ! Name fail!!

[Darbs76]

Ds isn’t doing the GCSE work set. He’s worked his bum off for years and I won’t be forcing him. They certainly can’t ask for pupils to submit assessments done at home. Mine is having this week off then starting to look at A level maths next week. He is unlikely to resit any as his mocks were excellent and his predictions great. But only issue could be English as he did less well in mock. He said he will resit it gets less than 7 as might affect his uni application if he applies to a top uni. I really don’t want to force him to do any of the work set and it’s almost like a kick in the teeth. Work so hard, pandemic forces cancellation of much anticipated exams and then they set more GCSE revision. Nope! PS4 it is this week

[Oakmaiden]

Piggy

Yes, sorry. I must stop posting on my phone, cos I hate typing so make short posts that only contain some of the information.

All he has been ask for, and all they are going to take from the school, are the predicted grades. This is apparently because the pupils have not yet finished their coursework, or had it marked. Obviously the will then number crunch based on the schools previous attainment, grade boundaries etc.

This does mesh with the information I got from the WJEC, I think - but he has obviously had something more detailed than this:

Given the timing of the school closures, not all learners have been provided with the opportunity to complete their internally assessed NEA work and controlled assessments. To ensure fairness for all learners, WJEC will not moderate any NEA units or controlled assessments for GCSE, AS/A level and Skills Challenge Certificate qualifications for the summer 2020 series.

We have provided information to all our centres with entries for these qualifications on how they should proceed with any NEA work or controlled assessments they have already marked.

[Piggywaspushed]

Interesting, as I am WJEC!

Is this Wales?

[Oakmaiden]

And information for Year 10 and 12:

Last week, we outlined the approach we are taking for GCSE and A level learners. We have been involved in discussions with Qualifications Wales and with Welsh Government and, following on from the announcement made today by Kirsty Williams and the statement by Qualifications Wales, we can now confirm the approach we will be taking for AS and Year 10 GCSE learners following WJEC specifications.



AS level learners

In our WJEC specifications in Wales, AS levels are not solely stand-alone qualifications; they also contribute to A level qualifications. AS units are usually taken in Year 12 and A2 units in Year 13. Some learners may just sit AS qualifications and not progress to the A level. As exams are not being held this summer, we understand this will have implications for those learners entering for stand-alone AS qualifications and for those taking their AS units this year leading on to the full A level next year. We are pleased to inform you that we have now come to an agreement with Qualifications Wales and Welsh Government to take the following steps in respect of our WJEC specifications.

Learners who were due to sit their AS exams this summer will not be required to sit those exams.
AS learners will be awarded a qualification in a similar way to those taking GCSEs and A levels this summer.
AS learners will receive a final AS grade from WJEC this summer, which will be based on a range of evidence, including teacher assessed grades.
The AS grade awarded to learners this summer will not contribute to their A level results in 2021.
In summer 2021, AS learners will be given two options for their A level qualifications, either to:
1. sit their A2 units only, and their grade will be awarded based solely on their performance in those units (which will be used to calculate marks for their AS units)



or



2. sit both AS and A2 units, if they wish to do so.



If learners decide to take option 2 next year, we will also consider the grade they would have been awarded if they took option 1. Their final grade will be the best grade awarded from either option.



Year 10 GCSE learners

For learners in Year 10 who were due to sit units to complete their GCSE qualification this summer, they will be issued a grade following the same process we outlined last week for Year 11 GCSE learners.



For learners in Year 10 who were due to sit units only, rather than completing an entire GCSE qualification this summer, we will not be issuing unit results. Those learners will be provided with two options which are either to



1. sit the Year 11 units in summer 2021, and their final overall GCSE grade will be calculated on the basis of their performance on those units



or



2. sit the Year 10 units in summer 2021, along with their Year 11 units.

If learners decide to take option 2 next year, we will also consider the grade they would have been awarded if they took option 1. Their final grade will be the best grade awarded from either option.

[Piggywaspushed]

That's that word already again!!

[Oakmaiden]

Yes.

[Piggywaspushed]

Ah, it is Wales. How interesting that they have got info out more quickly!

[Oakmaiden]

I think the Welsh version of GCSEs has more coursework/NEAs than England do now?

But yes, we are in Wales and unusually they do seem to be quite on the ball with this....

[Piggywaspushed]

Yes, I think so . Eduqas (WJEC's English branch) know nothing at all.

[Oakmaiden]

I guess WJEC are the only Welsh GCSE provider, so don't need to coordinate with anyone else over their Welsh only specifications. Whilst there are several in England, and they need to make sure they have a uniform approach.

[AnneOfCleavage]

Yay found you 😀👍

Week 1 completed and we have just written to the school to say the amount of home learning is unachievable. They have a timetable which DD adheres to but she hasn't managed to complete all tasks and it was due close of today. Ridiculous.

We received her mock grades from Feb mocks this week and they are good (as in she's passed them all) - she got her coveted 4 in French that she was after - but I know she was aiming for a grade or two higher per subject come the real exams as syllabus had not been completed eg her school changed a History module at the beginning of term so it's no where near covered and her physics teacher said that they would sit the physics exam even though lots of topics not been done yet so her grade reflected that I'm sure.

I'm glad she has a purpose to her day as she likes routine but the pile on of work is unattainable and unrealistic.

On a more cheerful note, lots of her friends have had piercings done and dyed their hair so she's enjoying the sm side of things and seeing funny pics. She wasn't interested in getting any new piercings herself or dying her hair but is living vicariously through her friends who have 😆

[Oblomov20]

Thank you OP.

What a sad sad situation.

There's another thread asking why Some schools are setting work. My ds has been doing a bit of work every day.

Then doing tonnes of x box etc!!

He is very happy at home. So is ds2!

I'm wondering what the point is of asking year 11's to still work???

[Oblomov20]

Both my ds's have done a small amount of work each day, copious amounts of x box.

And both done the toilet roll challenge, which I was proud of!

[Wheresthebeach]

anyone have an idea about how it will work when the school expected this year to get higher marks than any previous year? If they use past attainment won’t that disadvantage a bright year...Or is it just part of the picture rather than the over arching criteria?

Its a massive job to figure out how to do this but the waiting is a nightmare. I can’t imagine retakes being popular as they would have been out of school for so long.

[Wheresthebeach]

DD usually does a tonne of sport and is climbing the walls.

[TerfTerfTerf]

I'm here!
(Placemarking) thanks for new thread
I'm at work (NHS admin), kids at home, horizontal about no exams. I don't have the headspace to argue 🤣

[Piggywaspushed]

Literally beach!?!