Thread 8 Carry on Corona Cohort: GAV give us the CAG?

[OrangeCinnamon1]

Welcome all to the 8th Thread for this year's GCSE cohort the Corona Cohort!

Some of us have been here since I started first thread back in yr10, some will be new. Everyone has been friendly and helpful in the past. It is hoped this will continue. Going forward we intend to stay in secondary so any new threads should have 'GCSE Summer 2020 Thread # : Carry on Corona Cohort' in title just to make it easier to find.

From now on our DS/DD may go down various paths so we decided not to be exclusionary and stay right here in Secondary until HQ chuck us
At this precise moment in time we are awaiting GCSE results that seem to have been produced by an algorithm that also takes very little account of Teacher Centre Assessed Grades. There is an appeal process but it was changed yesterday to include mock results and coursework, then taken down again for review.
Trying to protect our young people's mental health.during this shit show , which the government claims is their priority...when they talk about wanting students back in schools/college in September...

first ever thread

previous thread

I will not accept an overall decrease by one grade in each subject. What is my DS school already self-moderate or the senior management team felt they needed to be entirely honest?
His CAGs will therefore be fair and accurate. It will not be acceptable to me for his CAGs in 9 subjects to decrease by one grade each. That would prevent him going to one of his sixth form options. Total GCSE points score does matter. I think it even matters when applying to university.

This is the 2 million downgrade article:
www.theguardian.com/education/2020/aug/14/gcses-2-million-grades-set-to-be-downgraded-researchers-warn

neutral and itsgettingweird, I’m not advocating every grade been downgraded by 1 grade, I’m suggesting a limit of one grade movement, and only where the algorithm suggests unreasonable grade inflation by CAGs.
Utopian, and possibly unworkable at this point?

Back in March, I had a pretty firm idea of what DD might get for CAGs and accepted that she may move down to the next grade, in line with ranking; I was ok with that, as it was suggested it was the best alternative in the circumstances.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/08/16/gcse-grades-would-boosted-9-percentage-points-teacherspredictions/

Apparently the percentage rise for GCSEs if CAGs were used is only 9% (not 12% as for A levels).

So the 9% overall cohort rise is even less significant, and even less worth damaging the futures of hundreds and thousands of individual pupils.

(sorry can't read all the article due to paywall, but have read first few paragraphs).

Yes, a 'compromise' of taking 1 grade away at maximum will severely damage those who were already the victim of the ranking system and were already 1 grade below what they could have achieved in an exam

BTW, I will not be 'compromising' on my DS future.
So the government and Ofqual can forget about that.
And the Labour shadow education secretary who has apparently said that there should be a commitment not to downgrade by more than 2 grades - I am speechless. Thanks for the help, labour (not).

Thanks for the new thread @OrangeCinnamon1. DD2 is starting to feel the nerves now - she’s usually a high achiever so has very high standards for herself but I think is trying to let those drop on the knowledge her grades be a reflection of her. Like @Silverhill’s DD she’s got very low attendance (due to serious bereavement over Christmas), which makes her grades even more of a lottery.

@neutralintelligence Same here. She's worked so hard for it and compromising is not on our menu. We will appeal every single grade that's not inline with her Cags or Mocks or whatever ofqual eventually decides on.

I (like everyone on here I suspect) just want my DS to get a bunch of grades that reflect his ability and effort. If other children get grades that are higher than they really deserve due to their schools estimating more generously; I don't actually care. Grades are important as stepping stones to get you into something. If you get into the something (e.g. A Level course/job) and are under-qualified/not actually able to do this, it will be discovered soon enough anyway.

It is rubbish that now all the organisations involved seem to think that 'compromise' would be acceptable.
Labour sometimes seem to say the government should accept CAGs and other times seem to say some sort of 'compromise' should be sought (no more than 2 grade downgrade, no more than 1 grade downgrade). Whatever - 9 downgraded GCSE grades is not going to placate me or be fair or accurate.

[quote neutralintelligence]This is the 2 million downgrade article:
www.theguardian.com/education/2020/aug/14/gcses-2-million-grades-set-to-be-downgraded-researchers-warn[/quote]
That one says:

Experts at the FFT Education Datalab research unit told the Guardian they expected the proportion of grades assessed by teachers likely to be forced down by Ofqual’s statistical mechanism to be 35-40%.

so the 80% must be from somewhere else. I think we have all read so many articles that facts and figures are spinning round in our heads like a Charlie and Lola cartoon!

.... although it is possible that the algorithm will say 40% of grades go up and 80% go down......

I remember when the teacher assessment was mooted and we were worried about teacher bias

I have a headache...again....

@RedskyAtnight good post! Exactly my sentiments about grade inflation. Do Tito get what anyone else gets as a result of the inflation. They are not all joined at the hip, they all have separate lives, goals and ambitions, at least they will be starting off knowing they’ve got the best grades they could get in a bad situation, rather than the former.

Our HT has just sensibly been in contact to say they will be using CAG’s for 6th form admission. Makes sense and one less thing to worry about I guess.

@Wheresthebeach

I have a headache...again....

Again? Don't think mines stopped!

“Don’t care what anyone else gets”.

Just had an email from school, on Thursday grades will be issued, if we require cag then we will need to request this after Thursday and there will be a procedure to follow.

That’s made me annoyed, wanted both on Thursday in case we need to speak to new 6th form would be imperative to have the cag as back up!!

I realise this could all be pointless as hoping cag will be issued as the grade...

Our HT has just sensibly been in contact to say they will be using CAG’s for 6th form admission. Makes sense and one less thing to worry about I guess.

This is the decision I'm hoping DD's school will make.

Has anyone's school been in touch about Thursday? We haven't heard anything since they sent out the arrangements before the end of term. If things stay as they are they might need to change their plan for discussing appeals, not sure they would have anticipated as many as there are bound to be..

Yet again the HT at DD’s school has stepped up. He’s ace.

What a reassuring email @IHeartHarryStyles, not a peep from our school yet.

Sorry that looks a bit blurry for me. Hopefully folk can still read it.