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

Phew. Much as I imagine there are plenty whod like the moderates grades immediately shredded, never to been seen or mentioned again it does read as the GCSE students will also be able to use the higher of the two, so I'm hoping we do get to see them.

Although I might not feel the same way if/when we do

That seems to be what they're saying Rhubarb. I need to add another column to my spreadsheet!

The feeling of relief is immense! I don’t want to see then calculated grades and I don’t think we will either. The schools have the CAGs they submitted so they have days to now prepare the results for Thursday. DD’s predictions were all 5 and 6’s and we will be very pleased with those! Just want to draw a line under this now and move onto year 12.

Yes- I read that as meaning the higher of the CAG and algorithm grade. But I want the mock grades too in case they are higher!!! That’s what Gav said!!!

We might only see moderated results if they are higher than CAGs? I can't imagine Ofqual will want the whole suite of moderated GCSEs out in the wild, potentially reopening the discussion.

Great news.

Tempered with sadness for the uncertainty still for all the A level students who have missed their uni places and have either had to settle for second-best or less.

That statement applies to A levels too so I’m assuming when they mean the moderated grade they mean to those students that already have them.

I am extremely relieved . Feel for those caught up in the A level fiasco though. UCAS person was saying there are about 150,000 caught up in it, calling for university cap to be removed and something come up with to help those forced into deferral for a year,

@gigglingHyena

Phew. Much as I imagine there are plenty whod like the moderates grades immediately shredded, never to been seen or mentioned again it does read as the GCSE students will also be able to use the higher of the two, so I'm hoping we do get to see them.

Although I might not feel the same way if/when we do

Well I guess they have to show them if they can use the higher one.

Will be interesting to see how it's presented to students.

Will they get a table with 2 columns?!

You might assume that cherry but it's in the semantics isn't it? Interesting what will happen...

I want the mock grades too in case they are higher!!! That’s what Gav said!!!

😂😂

(Gav also said there will be no U turn 😁 - Clara you can't trust him!)

I think they should see what the moderated grade would be. The not knowing if they were ones for whom the CAG was too low would be sad. And being able to take higher grade from CAG or moderated grade should be available to pupils.
After all, some pupils will have been given a lower CAG due to over-diligence in a school that felt it needed to fully self-moderate or just had an admin/calculation errors or if they slavishly stuck to rankings and past performance etc (a minority I would think).
Obviously that is a percentage in single figures though and overall the change is welcome.

Do we know yet what is happening for BTECs ?

I can't see the point of knowing what numbers would have been thrown out by a deeply flawed algorithm would help anyone?

Surely individuals will have some gut feel as to whether they think their CAGs are reasonable or a bit high or too low?

I am so, so relieved.

The fight isn’t over for BTEC and IB students though, sadly. I am going to write to my MP about them. I’m afraid they might get forgotten in amongst all the celebrations.

Redsky

They said no change for BTECS.

Am I right with this then?

Now, they are going on CAGs, but also the algorithm still stands if it was higher than the CAG?

@RedskyAtnight

Do we know yet what is happening for BTECs ?

It was said they weren't included as were not affected in same way IIRC?

Also, will teachers have used assessed grades right up to cut off date.
I mean the late bloomers who had low predicted but really shone at the end.
What will happen to them.

Yessssss!

Thank you all for all of your brilliant posts.

Still feel gutted for those poor A level student who lost uni places but hopefully there will be some kind of way forward for them.

And yes need fair treatment for IBs and BTECs too.

But for our lot....phew.

@ClarasZoo

Yes- I read that as meaning the higher of the CAG and algorithm grade. But I want the mock grades too in case they are higher!!! That’s what Gav said!!!

Exactly. Have they mentioned that particular promise yet? Are we supposed to wipe it from our memories? In some subjects, my DS revised as hard as if it were the real thing and got the grades to show for it.

I’m sure the statement means grades already awarded, because that horse has already bolted.
I can’t imagine GCSE students will have the option of choosing the higher grade, and as RedSky says, it feels odd to say, “ I don’t trust Ofqual to know what grade my child should get” and then say, “...but if it’s higher, I’ll take it “.

I’ve just said to DD that ideally, what she wants to see on Thursday are the CAG grades and the moderated grades matching. That’s the only way I’d feel they are believable.

I guess letting people have the moderated grade if it's higher might help if people feel that their school was very stingy with the CAGs

I think the spirit of the U-turn should be to give the higher of the 2 grades though. It won't actually affect or help all that many (not if there were going to be 2 million downgrades). It is just better than getting a CAG even if it's lower. It's not like the individual pupil gets to decide - it is a decision that has been made a higher level.

More importantly if pupils in other regions/nations of the UK get the higher out of the two, then it is only right for that to happen in England too. After all they will be applying to the same universities etc in the future.

There has really has to be exactly the same options available to pupils whether their GCSE was a Welsh board or an English board.

Perhaps, if you have a mock grade higher, this will be something you can do an appeal for? Gav did say it and it hasn’t been withdrawn...
Maybe also if when DD was 3 someone once said that her aunt’s cousins next door neighbour thought that when she was 16 she would get top marks, this also should mean she gets a 9!!!