GCSE Summer 2020 Thread 9 : Carry on Corona Cohort ‘Let’s Ofqual the whole thing off'

[OrangeCinnamon1]

Welcome all to the 9th Thread for this year's GCSE cohort - the Corona Cohort!

This is a thread for supporting all young people ( and their parents) taking GCSEs regardless of the institute they attend or the grades they need. It is respectfully requested that we are all supportive and helpful to each other.

If you want to start a debate e.g state vs private - please do not within this thread.

Similarly it should be recognised that the grades our children need/deserve/want will vary across the board- we wish to celebrate and comiserate with all. One same grade outcome can simultaneously cause joy and despair for different posters and their families. Please be sensitive when responding to threads about grade outcomes.

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 on the Secondary Education Board (at least until Mumsnet HQ chuck us out ) as from now on our DS/DD may go down various paths such employment, apprenticeships, higher ed etc so we decided not to be exclusionary.

Any new threads should have 'GCSE Summer 2020 Thread # : Carry on Corona Cohort' in title just to make it easier to find. There is no preciousness about who starts new threads!

At this precise moment in time we are still awaiting GCSE results . At first these were to be 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 to include mock results and coursework, then taken down again for review. Now it has been decided that the higher of Centre Assessed Grades and Calculated Grades will be awarded in two parts??!?!

We are all STILL trying to protect our young people's mental health, which the government claims is their priority...when they talk about wanting students back in schools/college in September...

First Thread

Previous thread

DD got rejected from both sixth forms so she’s very distraught :(

Ah no @Confusedbutheyho I’m so sorry

Sorry to hear that ConfusedBut

Is there any logic to any of us appealing?
If you got a 5 and you were expecting a 6?
If you got a 6 and you were expecting a 7?

Is it worth it? How do you decide? What do you do next?

Oh shit Confused

You can only appeal on administrative error or bias, I think?

I personally think it will be very hard for an individual student to prove bias, unless their CAG was very out of step with class work/assessment/mocks. With one grade below expected, I expect the school will argue not enough evidence for higher grade. Unless the grade difference means they won't be able to do what they do next, suspect it's not worth appealing.

So sorry Confused hope you and DD come up with a good Plan B. No hope of reconsideration (maybe with school reference)?

@Alsoplayspiccolo

Does anyone else feel utterly exhausted now? I think the last few weeks has finally caught up with me, and the adrenaline is draining away - feel like I could go back to bed! (That might be the Buck’s Fizz we had at breakfast...)

I’m also feeling a bit deflated, weirdly. DD’s friends all got 8s and 9s, which isn’t a surprise (some of the top girls in a good school), so DD’s solo 6 is niggling me.
Ridiculous, especially as it’s what we all predicted. I need to have a word with myself!

I'm supposed to be working from home and my head feels too fuzzy to do anything.

I'm just stunned to be on a thread like this with DD having a 9. In normal times she might have got an 8 if she'd had a really good day and luck with the questions. It's not that it isn't good - it's just so far out of anything I expected. And it makes a difference to her ambitions for the future- she wants to do an apprenticeship instead of University - she can go for that with more confidence now.

She looks exhausted too!

Oh confused what options are there now? Have they given this information?

We don't generally have 6 form around here and so pupils go to college which offers a far broader array of levels and qualifications.
Do you have colleges around your way?

So sorry confused.

So sorry for any DC who haven’t got the grades they wanted to move forwards. @IHeartHarryStyles and @Confusedbutheyho that’s really tough.

DD got a couple of lower marks and a couple of higher marks than expected. DD got a 4 in Maths, her teacher said she would get a 5. That has meant she can’t do one of her A Level choices, thankfully she can do it as a BTec and will take her other two a level choices.

Oh no confused - can she have a talk with the schools careers advisor?

@Confusedbutheyho

DD got rejected from both sixth forms so she’s very distraught :(

Oh no that’s disappointing. I don’t know what she got, but do you have any other school choices slightly further away? What about BTECs? I think BTECs are rather underrated but could be the key to her doing extremely well and on to uni.

Confused and very unMN hugs.
I hope you can find an alternative that your DD will be happy with. X

Oh @Confusedbutheyhoonfused: your poor dd. Is there another option locally/potential for flex at the sixth forms?

@IHeartHarryStyles

The school have been in touch but DD upset and it was a very rapid call with little empathy along the lines of ‘this is what you wanted to do, this is now what you’re able to do (btech) so I’ll put you down for those, yep, great, bye’ whilst DD just looked blankly at me with tears streaming down her face and occasionally saying ok.

She’s saying she wants to sit the exams, we’re now trying to find out if that will make a difference.

This happened to my son. He was so upset not to be allowed to take A levels and was stuck with the limited choice of Btecs. It was without doubt the best decision ever. He achieved distinctions which have the same ucas points as a grade A at A level. He earned a place at a very well respected university and knows he wouldn't have got in had he taken A levels. If university is the end game then please don't give up or dismiss the Btec route. To me it's the best kept secret out there. Good luck

My dd is upset with her results. Much lower RS grade than her target grade - 3 grades lower. Lower in everything apart from double science.... which was too high! Her school followed the ranking rules and feel like they've been penalised. It doesn't stop her doing her a levels, but she feels crap. News is full of schools doing better and she's come off worse!

Results are in!

Biology 9
Chemistry 8
Biology 8
Maths 8
Geography 8
History 7
PE 7
English language 7
English lit 6
Further Maths 6
Computer Science 4

Very pleased!!

Great news @Northumberlandlass
He can smash A level chemistry and GCSEs will be long forgotten

Dd got four 9s and five 8s and is over the moon! In the car she was worrying about a 6 in Biology (although she got a high 7 in her mock) based on the time we’d spent poring over last year’s results and trying to rank her!

@Alsoplayspiccolo I know what you mean about the deflated feeling! DD’s three best friends all got straight 9s. She thought they would and is really pleased for them, but with so many high grades flying around it’s a bit weird! A bit like this thread really...

The sad news is that DD’s best mate from outside school probably doesn’t have the grades to go to the grammar school with her.

Commiserations to those whose children are disappointed, especially if it means a change of plan.

It’s hard to adjust but it may work out well in the end. A friend’s daughter wasn’t able to do A Levels and was very upset - but instead took a Health and Social Care diploma and has just got the highest grade. She’s able to do what she always planned to do at uni so all is well in the end.

Popping back on to say well done to all the DC whatever their results. With a particular well done to mini @KingscoteStaff who I have been crossing paths with since the girls did 11+ at the same time.

We are now at the beach celebrating as DS2 (Year 10) also got a 9 in French. Shame we're in Italy and not France so he could say something useful but you can't have everything.

DD's FSMQ result is still not through but I'm past caring now.

@crazycrofter - great results. Tell her not to worry about 9s v 8s. When it comes to university applications they're much of a muchness.

@ThankyouPeter that’s really encouraging.

My nephew has just passed GCSE maths. He had a terrible time up to GCSEs and it impacted his results. The school let him go on to what he wanted to do...he is thriving now and looking at some great Unis for what he wants to do - Politics inspired by BLM movement and his heritage. To all who are dissapointed there WILL be a way for your children to get to where they want to be