The government should be made to fulfil their promise re Autumn GCSE sittings since there is now no appeals procedure. [Edited by MNHQ at OP's request]

[H0usePlant]

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/education/2020/apr/22/schools-and-exam-boards-undermine-promise-to-pupils-of-september-tests

So having had the chance to sit GCSEs( understandable in the circumstances if schools don’t go back until the Autumn) the gov promised a robust appeals procedure and Autumn sittings. There is now no appeals procedure to speak off as regards actual results and it’s looking less likely there will be Autumn sittings.

They promised both originally and many kids are going to be really upset that through no fault of their own that there will be no chance to put right any issues with GCSE grades allocated. It will surely have an impact on the future chances of those wishing to attend Russel group unis.

Having read several year 11 threads it’s clear all schools aren’t adhering to advice that work from home after school stopped is not to be used.Many kids do cram( there is no gcse rule book prohibiting this), some kids will have had issues outside and inside school that will have an impact on grades being allocated without exams. Private schools have an added incentive for higher results and no Sats data. Teachers, schools and circumstances vary. As such it’s clear in all likelihood there will be discrepancies.

My dd has had an awful time and isn’t holding out much hope that she’ll get what she should/ could have done. She has been working hard since school left for Autumn sittings as that is what was promised. These appear to be disappearing too. Sitting GCSEs next summer whilst studying for A levels isn’t workable. They have hoards of free time and anxiety now. She is now feeling powerless to put right any discrepancies herself. We as parents will be powerless to do anything when results come out.

It’s shit and the gov should surely be offering money to exam boards to ensure exams are held in the Autumn as they promised.

I think, from what Ds told me, that he might have been being observed after numerous parental complaints. A member of SMT seemed to be sitting in on his classes more often than dh thought usual.

OP where have you found the information saying results might not be on the table anymore? I’ve clicked on your link but it’s just taken me to a Guardian news page that has nothing to do with education.

@H0usePlant I got a job on the lowest rung in the field I wanted to go into. I self funded not a penny from my parents.
It made no difference going to Uni a year later than my friends.
It made me a better person, I valued hard work and self determination. Life was never meant to be easy and the best path is often the indirect one.
I say all of this as a parent of a 16 year old who should have taken GCSEs this summer. I understand she is angry, disappointed and grieving her GCSEs. There will always be obstacles you just have to find your way round them.

You need to help her develop the resilience to take the indirect route.

Lone thanks for that. Dd has illustrated resilience in spades over the past couple of years. After exams were cancelled she illustrated it further by not dissolving into a mess and getting her head down to prepare for the promised Aut sittings instead. This is about a disorganised DfE and promises not being fulfilled. Indicating that teenagers who are frustrated by said disorganisation are not resilient is more than a little unfair.

Locked don’t see the problem, just clicked on link and article is there.

I have two children sitting GCSE and A Level

I am just going with the flow - as long as GCSE has good enough grades to do A level subject then that's fine with me as it's just a stepping stone

The A levels - we will see - if it doesn't do to complete plan will just do another distance learning

Sometimes we all just need to adapt to circumstances beyond our control and that is good for our children in later life that curve balls will be thrown

She’s had the curveball and adapted. Another seems to be in the process of being thrown- or not.

The thing is OP most replies here are telling you that you are blowing this way out of proportion. You have NO IDEA what grades your DD is going to get, they may be fine and you may be worrying for nothing. I'm wondering if it's you or your DD that is actually the most worried here. If she needs to do resits she only needs to focus on Maths and English to get 4's. Concentrate on the next stage of her education, get her to prepare herself for that. There is nothing you can do to change this situation so focus on the future and what you can influence.

Surely you can see that there's no point in running an exam for only a few students? It would be unfair for students to take the exam because grading it would be statistically impossible. She would possibly even be at a disadvantage from her teacher assessment grades compared to sitting the exam.

Everyone is having to adapt and change quickly. If there aren't many entries for some exams, expect that exam not to be run.

She should focus on the subjects she wants to carry on with. Wait and see what the summer brings for the rest. It is highly likely you're worrying over nothing.

Nope isn’t me it’s her. She’s worked really hard to get herself together and I really don’t want to see her go back to square one. I also think she’s justified to be upset. She is doing the right thing and following advice they gave out. If she doesn’t focus on GCSEs and they go ahead she’ll be really upset.

How is it highly likely she’s worrying over nothing. It has been widely reported that they may not happen. They promised them that they would.

I mean you're worrying over her grades for nothing.
If she was working hard in school, then her teachers will know this and take it into account. They will do as much as possible to give her the best possible outcome.
I understand you are both upset. I think your upset is focused in the wrong direction.

(Statistically she will probably he disadvantaged by taking resits as the make up of the students won't be a representative sample of the whole cohort. It will likely be skewed therefore grade boundaries will probably be higher).

Take the chance in her grades in August. Make a plan when you have more information. Stop reacting to everything like this.

I mean this kindly but do you have MH issues?

No you don’t mean it kindly and no I don’t have MH issues , do you?

I have tried my best to reassure her but she wants the grades she knows she’s capable of so she wants to put the work in she feels is necessary to pull it off. They’re all up in the air so she has a fair bit to do. Not keeping things going for 3 or 4 months does seem silly if they go ahead. She’s done a month already.

Some clarification, an acknowledgement of false promises and an apology if they’re not going ahead would help. They’re kids not adults blessed with years of life experience.

I really do mean it kindly and would recommend you speaking to someone if you did have MH issues. You are really blowing this out of proportion and reacting in a way that is beyond the norm.

I can understand your upset. But have some faith in her teachers.

Continue with A level prep and forget about the rest. That would be my message to my child. Pick up the pieces in August IF you need to. Wasted 5 months of effort otherwise.

Err I don’t, but thanks for your concern. Accusing somebody of having mental health issues because they think the gov has mishandled this issue is quite rude.

I did moot leaving gcse work until Aug but it didn’t go down well. I get her point and reluctance to stop. If they go ahead she’d be kicking herself.She is upset and anxious about the lack of clarification and I don’t blame her.

It would have been much better if there had been no suggestion or promises of Aut resits.

My brother is an exams officer.

He said most schools in his area don't have sixth form. The kids go to colleges. So they will have left school and he says the schools won't facilitate resits as they're no longer pupils. And the colleges have no interest in doing so.

I wonder if that's what caused the reversal, nobody would say they'd facilate it. Brother seems confident that kids will get the results they deserve. There's a lot of objective data to go on and that it's exceedingly rare for a teacher to be overly suprised by someone's gcse result.

But surely they can’t guarantee resits will be able to go ahead anyway, because we may well be in the second Covid wave by Oct/Nov with schools being closed again?

I think it’s best to reassure her that GCSEs aren’t that important in the scheme of things and A Levels will supercede them. That’s what I’ve been saying to dd.

If she suddenly needs a better grade in one or two GCSEs she can take them later - in a gap year if necessary. My brother with the poor GCSEs had to retake his language GCSE because the uni course he wanted to do required a pass. He did it in his gap year, passed and got his place at uni.

These kids have lost a lot - proms, summer plans etc. I feel they might as well make the most of this time at home, follow their interests, sleep in, relax and prepare for sixth form. They won’t get a time as carefree as this again!

You’d think the DfE would have realised that before promising Aut sittings

In fairness to the DfE they did initially mute August resits which would have been logistically possible from a building avaliable pov. Results day was going to be July.

However since the initial announcement they have had to push back timings on expected grades etc so results day is now mid/end of August. Staffing levels, consultantations, logistics have all influenced this decision.

So when they first made the announcement they probably didn't forsee the situation we are in now. They also probably weren't initially anticipating such a long lockdown and social distancing for months.

I'd rather they got the consultation on the awarding of grades done correctly than putting on resits for a handful of students. If the correct grading process is followed then resits become obsolete.

Whatever, sittings were promised.

And as for obsolete. There is no way you can say only a handful will want a sitting or that sittings won’t be needed. The numbers that should have taken exams are huge, many take 8, 9,10 or more exams. I think saying every child will get the grade they should have got for every exam is incredibly naive. I also think not giving kids a chance ,in the absence of an appeal system, the chance to put right grades they feel were wrong isn’t fair.

Fact is most students won't care about subjects other than Maths and English. As long as they have passed those and got what they need for sixth form, very few students will want to resit. They do have to resit Maths and English as per government policy. As I said, we have had no students even enquire.

Teacher assessment is predicted to be about 85-90% accurate. This Centre assessed grade is then statistically moderated, ensuring it is as close as possible to the grade that would have been awarded. Are students really going to resit say Art to go from a 6 to a 7? Or History from a 4 to a 5? If they've passed enough to get to college they won't care.

Students will have a chance if they are really that bothered in June 2021.

If that is the case (no appeal system at all) then yeah it s not fair. But what can you do about it? Same for many.
But you dont know yet what grades your dd will be given.
And you dont know what will or wont be taken into account In18 months when she applies to uni. There s a lot of unknowns. You have to ride with it. Dont stress.
As pp said If needs be she can wait til A levels in the bag then apply to uni. Loads of kids take a gap year.

I don’t think you would have many “enquire” at the moment. Kids can’t enquire re grades which is right. Getting on with work they have already in preparation doesn’t involve school, they’ve left. Come Aug with reality slapping them in the face many may also want to get on and sit their worst one or two/ or exams they deem important. It would just be useful to know now if that will be happening at whatever time.

She is/ was rolling with it Embrace, has no choice not to. She is just frustrated with the lack of clarity and false info, feels letdown. I don’t blame her really.

There clearly was a need for Aut sittings otherwise they wouldn’t have been suggested or promised in the first place.

Or, they thought there would be lots of demand, but then realised most 16yos would rather focus on their next courses than retake French, plus logistics, so have rolled back?

OP, are you the poster whose DD was having MH difficulties but you didn't tell the school? So they would be in no position to take into account late improvements sufficiently?
Is it possible that you and she are viewing the autumn sittings as a 'second bite at the cherry'? Not to get results she would have got in May, but instead to get results she could have got had she not been ill in y10/11?

There is always a November series for Maths and English so I'm assuming that will go ahead, social distancing etc allowing.

You forget that in a normal year she'd get her results in August and that would be it. The only option would be a June 2021 resit. This year isn't different on that account if the autumn resits don't go ahead for all subjects. I think right now ofqual probably don't even know if schools will be open for September let alone how to run an exam series.

The original announcement definitely over promised. However looking at the process for awarding grades I really don't think many students will feel hard done to.

There is currently a consultation open over the awarding of grades and appeals process. This ends 29th April.