Exams cancelled

[noblegiraffe]

Alternative arrangements will be made.

How stressful to announce that with no details about what will happen.

Yep, far too late to impose SAT type tests.

Plus lots of offers are already out so if universities decide to cut back the number of offers they make for fear of grade issues, which surely has to be the case for the ones who had problems last year eg Durham, the cuts will all fall on the group who haven’t yet heard. Happy days for their no longer awaiting their target offers.

Surely whatever they come up with for A levels will be designed to keep the children (particularly year 13) working through to May-ish, to avoid the pens-down phenomenon last year

@TheSunIsStillShining

Because despite me having numerous qualifications I still have to state my GCSE’s when applying for jobs despite me being the wrong side of 40. Surely it’s not too much to actually expect them to be given a grade. It’s like saying A levels aren’t needed because they are going to Uni.

What happens if they drop out of their a levels half way through due to mental health issues caused by this entire fiasco, then they’d have no qualifications at all?

I’m not saying they will or should do US style SATs, just wondering what they will do. Apparently last year, they ended up with more than double the students as places. They are still dealing with the overhang. I presume they will be looking for a gate to control numbers this year after their experience last year.

Anybody on this thread work at a uni? I’d really be interested in how the universities plan to tackle this.

PS. I pulled up US SATs as an example measure because that’s how the us copes with Hugh school grades all based on local teacher assessment without any central moderation and because students aren’t supposed to be able to prepare for these exams although there is a whole prep industry, like the 11+ here.

DfE press release:

"we will not be asking pupils to sit GCSE and A levels... will consult on how to award pupils a grade that reflects the hard work they’ve done and will continue to do"

twitter.com/johndickenssw/status/1346539700694228992?s=21

Yet the newspapers are reporting that core exam subjects will go ahead! How to completely confuse an already complicated situation.

@ihearttc

It seems I'm missing something here as a non-brit.
If I have math gcse and A-level, why would I ever need to declare the gcse result if one supersedes the other?

I had to show my GCSE maths certificate to be allowed to teach as it's a requirement for teaching, despite having a maths degree.

I have no idea why but I can assure you that you do!

BTECs may yet be cancelled some colleges are cancelling them themselves.

DS's college has cancelled January's BTECS.

I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not as it just piles on pressure in the summer to go back to the material of the modules that they've just done.

@TheSunIsStillShining also, most kids do 8-10 GCSEs and 3-4 A levels. So the grades in the subjects they don’t continue can still matter. Especially later in life if you change career. And uni places are offered before you take A levels so they’re looking at your GCSE results.

@noblegiraffe

I had to show my GCSE maths certificate to be allowed to teach as it's a requirement for teaching, despite having a maths degree.

ok, that is just stupid :)

@JellyBabiesSaveLives
Obv. I only meant in subject that they carry on with. As per my example.
This is a messed up system.

My son was just asking me exactly the same question (not my influence) and I said I asked brits on the internet so give me a day to answer :)

@TheSunIsStillShining also a teen may choose 3 A levels for their university course, but the uni may still want gcse maths and/or English. Maths & English GCSEs are a requirement for loads of jobs/courses regardless of A levels achieved.
Looks like DfE are going to award them somehow though.
noble and other teachers, 3 questions please?

1. did online learning/assessments etc count towards CAGs last time?
2. is it likely to count this time? Someone said upthread that only work completed whilst physically at school can count
3. do you have enough information to give grades for GCSEs and A levels and enough data as evidence right now, today?

Thanks for that screenshot noblegiraffe.

His originally vague remark squeezed into the lockdown speech was ridiculous. I expected with the 'all' that they'd still try to have some, but the latest seems not.

Still no acknowledgement of BTECs or anything else. No surprise after last year's clusterfuck and how there hasn't been any reporting I've found of any of the promised 'adjustments' for them. Last check, it's seems schools are going to decide whether this week's exams are going to go ahead and everything is up in the air about practicals.

@finisterreforever *
That will screw up families in poverty, I wouldn't be able to afford for my child to be in school for an extra year after they turn 18 without the tax credits and child benefit continuing. 6th form is covered by them but another year from age 18-19, a year 14 in effect would not be.
Tax credits and child benefit are paid up to age 20.

Ah, @TheSunIsStillShining if your DS is staying on at the same school then I would imagine his school will know him well and be able to judge quite accurately if he should continue subjects at A level. So if he wants to do maths & sciences where top grades are usually required then his school will know if he’s top grade or not. But they would have told him this already. He may indeed not be so reliant on his gcse results than if he were going to another school or college.

@NotDonna
That is what exactly what I said. IF kids stay in same school and do A levels in that subject then it can be skipped as it's redundant.

I don't know how much of a burden it would take off examiners though.

Specifically we don't have to worry about him, he's y10/5th form, so has a year until gcse. He'll be screwed over next year. But let's burn that bridge when we get there :)

minus 1 "what"

How is it best to support my ds year 11 now exams are cancelled he’s very chilled out and needs a rocket up his arse so after making him do revision cards in the summer of year 10 work and making a timetable to start after Christmas revising I am not sure how to motivate him or support him now they aren’t sitting exams other than extra effort into homework etc. Actually feeling quite anxious about it as I feel he hasn’t always done his best or put enough effort it despite me nagging

@TheSunIsStillShining I didn’t say the gcse should be skipped though. I just said your school will know him well enough that if CAGs or whatever happens goes awry he should be ok to continue his studies. But given he’s not even in yr11 it’s a moot point.

All the degrees my eldest has applied for (Pol&Phil) ask for certain grades in Maths & Eng Lang @ GCSE.

Regarding A levels what do we think will happen with the NEA’s (ds has a 3/4 written Geography one - it’s been a nightmare- fieldwork should have happened in lockdown obv didn’t was pushed to Oct half term and then obv canx so they’re doing it without fieldswork - it’s been v hard).

@Alfiemoon1 he has to realise that EVERYTHING he does will count. Will absolutely still matter. Did you read the last line of noble’s screen shot?

@KittyMcKitty oh! I thought they’d already pulled the geog fieldwork? Was that just for gcse then?

I’ve a yr13 (not doing geog) and a yr11 who definitely had the fieldwork pulled in geography. I assumed the same had happened in A level. But I guess that’s more of an issue if they’re going into degree geog.