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

Subject access request: all the data held on the individual

Can someone please explain why they have decided to award the moderated grades if they are higher than the CAG? Why do we need that? If they didn't want to use the CAG in the first place due to inflation of usual grades, why then add something that will make them even higher? I know it won't affect many, but it just seems unnecessary. I get why A levels need it as they can’t take back the highest grade but as GCSE’s haven’t been issued are they needed?

Thank you for the link. I try to be open minded and balanced. I work in a government commission- but no, he’s not very clever is he. When will they realise that saying I cocked this up, actually is better than deflection. The BTEC thing is just bizarre. What is going on.

We are very close to local lockdown here so we now have an email and then an appointment but we also have a funeral of a much loved relative. Much, much loved. So we can’t make the appointment. Her results are borderline for 6th form but she should get her core stuff and they’ve said they’ll support her as she missed much of Y10

Getting the GAV 🤣🤣

Ah triple lock is a good one. They've used this for the pensions too!

Still

Sorry to hear that @StillDumDeDumming

Sorry to hear that @StillDumDeDumming
What an awful time for you all

so sorry to hear that still

So sorry to hear the news @StillDumDeDumming

@StillDumDeDumming

BTW if anyone is wondering about Cambridge iGSCE (given out last Tuesday), they're also going to CAGs. Although confusingly they call them 'predicted grades' rather than assessed ones because even those who design these systems are confused by the whole sorry mess.

www.cambridgeinternational.org/news/news-details/view/update-on-how-we-are-awarding-grades-for-june-2020-series-20200817/

DS was wailing about last week's computer science grade and I suspect the CAG will be at least two grades higher. So that's something. But at the same time having actually been given two wildly different grades it makes the whole thing feel so arbitrary and meaningless.

@StillDumDeDumming

Oh thank you everyone- I wasn’t expecting that. It does feel like a bit of an onslaught. He absolutely loved life though and I named my eldest after him when I had a phone call with him, having never even met!

Still,
So sorry for your loss.

So will the calculated grades be issued on Thursday too?

Sounds like a really rough ride Still

heifer, that’s my question too.
I’m probably in the minority, but I think either all CAGs or all moderated would have more integrity.
Also, if Ofqual are only going to issue moderated grades that have gone up, our DCs might be left wondering which of their other grades would have stayed the same and which would have gone down.
Too many variables for my poor brain; I’m someone who likes to work with facts, not what ifs.

I don't see the point of offering the moderated grades either. We have all agreed they are fatally flawed and there is absolutely no guarantee they will go to students who are getting "too low" CAGs, which would be the only justifiable reason for giving them. Sure there were A Level reports of B grades students who'd never dreamed of getting any higher, randomly being assigned A*.

If they are given, I hope that students just get one set of results, so they have no idea whether the grade is CAG or a GAV.

(Does GAV stand for "Generalised algorithm variant" maybe?)

If they don't issue all the GAVs I'm definitely going to SAR them - as you say Also it's too frustrating not to know the full story

@PatienceVirtue thanks for the update re Cambridge IGCSEs - glad that’s worked out better for your ds.

I’m still confused about the iGCSEs generally - DD’s five are all with Edexcel. I don’t know if the school had results for these last week and they’ll now be changed or if they release theirs the same time as the GCSEs?

I agree it would be ridiculous to get the moderated grade if it’s higher than CAG as that leads to even more grade inflation and takes away any semblance of a level playing field!

I think given the monumental incompetence we have seen in this process so far, some people might like to see with their own eyes that the higher grade has actually been awarded

Thanks PatienceVirtue for posting that- its a relief to know that they are following suit- although the cynic in me was wondering if its to avoid mass withdrawal from their exam board! Also means all those British students abroad at International schools are on a level footing also (worked in them for 19 years). Just got to hope they sort out the Btecs now.

GAV = Government’s Atrocious Variation

I have no idea now what Thursday will bring - is it still definitely Thursday at this point?

It is at the moment!