GCSE and A-level guidance has been issued

[TheletterZ]

The guidelines for the GCSE and A-levels has now come out.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/877842/Summer_2020_grades_for_GCSE_AS_A_level_EPQ_AEA_in_maths_-_guidance_for_teachers_students_parents.pdf

Main points, schools will come up with the grades using their professional judgement and performance in exams, assessments, in class etc...
They will then rank the students in each grade band.
This will then be subject to statistical analysis by ofqual and might be adjusted.
The results will be published ahead of the usual schedule and certificate will look exactly the same as any other year.

I think it’s as fair as it can be in the circumstances. My son did revise a lot for his mocks but even if he didn’t, his predictions are based on 4.5yrs at the school and they have a lot of data on that

Just from a common sense point of view, sixth forms will have to be sympathetic - our problem isn’t selecting students to come to us, it’s about trying to get enough students every year so we’re not likely to start being stupid about grades!

I think this is fair. If you didn’t revise for mocks, it’s the child’s own fault

Oh do give over. There are 101 reasons why kids may not have done as well as they should have done in mocks, some will have plenty of justification . They’re exactly that - mocks, Dont remember my child being told before she sat them that mocks were the real thing. Kids often treat mocks very differently to the real thing. They’re not just using mocks anyway probably for that very reason. That and the fact kids sit them at different times, cover differing amounts of the course before and with have differing content set in the exam.

Oh do give over. There are 101 reasons why kids may not have done as well as they should have done in mocks, some will have plenty of justification

Which is why just mocks won’t be used. Don’t worry! This guidance is, very fairly, allowing for that.

Sorry, meant for that post to be aimed at Guyonhere1

My DN hasn’t worked for 4 years! Can’t see him coming out of this with glowing results! He’s a typical do it at the last minute and pull the rabbit out of the hat. Possibly won’t be so great for him. However he did choose to be lazy and was repeatedly told to do his homework!

That’s the thing, some kids who were planning to pull it out of the bag in the last few weeks will lose out. But then some parents expect their kid to finally do some work in last few weeks and they still don’t and don’t do well. The process is as fair as it can be given the circumstances. You can bet every GCSE teacher will get mileage out of the seriousness of mocks until the end of time now. My son worked really hard for his mocks, he said the teachers kept telling them it was super important. Of course no-one could have predicted how important or anticipated this

Great glad your son is ok. I really don’t buy it that most kids do their best for mocks. Aside from anything they all had different lead up times, course coverage etc. They’re kids, many learn from mocks and there can be a big gap between them and the real thing.

Does anyone know if Y6 Sats will be used for GCSE results? They've been used to set targets, so I'm wondering if they'll play a part in helping teachers assign GCSE grades.

@Aut0replenish which is why the grade recommendations will NOT be based on mocks alone. That ‘big gap between them and the real thing’ will be factored in to teachers’ grade recommendations, according to the documentation issued today.

I honestly don’t know what else parents are expecting the DfE and Ofqual to do given the global situation we are currently in?

Exams can’t happen. They just can’t. And even for those convinced their DC ‘would have done better’ in exams - they have absolutely no way of knowing that. You never know what is going to happen on the day. Especially, sadly, for those DC with mental health issues-they are probably even more at risk than the average of suffering a panic attack or stress related illness on the day and not performing as well as they might have done.

I am saying this as the parent of a Y11 child with SEN and fairly fragile mental health btw. Yes, had he been able to take exams, he might well have done a grade or so better in several subjects than he will potentially be allocated in August. He might equally have crashed and done a lot worse! We are very aware that whilst not being able to sit the exams has denied him the opportunity to prove himself, it has also provided him with something of a ‘safety net‘ too. Albeit one that he never wanted to have.

Does anyone know if Y6 Sats will be used for GCSE results?

Not to award individual grades no. That will be purely on what the teacher thinks the student would have got, then moderated by the exam boards.

At a whole cohort level, KS2 SATS help determine the overall expected grade profile of all year 11s, and will be used to make sure awarded grades overall match that expected, exactly as they would be if students took exams - that's one of the reasons grade boundaries change from one year to the next.

@LynetteScavo see link for info. Yes, at centre but not individual level.

www.gov.uk/government/news/how-gcses-as-a-levels-will-be-awarded-in-summer-2020

So they won’t even look at the Sats per child.😩 I thought the predicted grades from Sats would be a small factor ( along with many others things they’d use). That would have been a small plus as dd’s were v good.

Dd just wants to move on and sit some of them. It’s hard as don’t know which and should priority be GCSEs or A level over summer. November will be ages away. Shame they couldn’t be end of Aug/ Sep.

I wonder what the exam board will use for independent schools where there is no SAT data? Use common entrance? Or do most schools do CAT tests or MIDYIS, would that be used?

Have to say, I am glad sorting all this out is not my job.

You can't think it would be reasonable for a teacher to say 'Billy's results have been solid grade 3s throughout year 11 but he did really well in his SATS when he was 10 so I'll give him a 5 prediction'

@aut0replenish students will have the chance to sit their exams if they are unhappy with the grade awarded. No dates given for this yet, but hopefully in the autumn.

And of course the other way round: 'Bobby did very badly in his SATS at age 10 so despite him working at a solid grade 7 I'm only going to predict him a 4....'

No not at all but thought they were included in a small way. Isn’t there supposed to be a correlation between Sats and GCSEs? Not sure where I read it.

@TheletterZ I work in an independent school. Most do baseline testing. However, this won't factor much into the grade awarded, the key we have been told is the rank order of students, then, previous results from the school will be factored in to check reasonableness.

There is no way resits will be in September, within days of schools reopening and in the midst of another wave of infections.

At cohort level yes - KS2 attainment for the entire cohort - ie all 16 year olds in the country, are used to determine grade boundaries. They're not used at individual or centre level - so it won't matter that private schools won't have KS2 attainment data.

Attainment of precious GCSEs at centre (school) level will be taken into consideration.

@aut0replenish but she can ‘move on and sit some of them’!

But probably not till November, which is the usual ‘resit’ timeframe.

This is an unprecedented situation, there is a worldwide crisis, the regulatory boards are doing the best they can in a hugely difficult situation. Of course you want the best for your DD as we all do for our children, but scheduling exams in August / September would be neither realistic nor reasonable. Let’s face it we don’t even know if any students will be starting back in September, given the pandemic situation; they could easily be out till January.

So I guess all those that are worried need to just keep plodding on alone with most of their subjects alongside preparing for Alevels. Not a small job.But if a nightmare if you get a nasty suptuse and don’t prep.I wonder when we contact 6 th forms to ask for advice.