Exams cancelled 2

[Orangeblossom1977]

Started a new thread as last one is full.

This has been published

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/964613/Infographic_-_how_GCSEs__AS_and_A_levels_will_be_awarded_in_summer_2021.pdf

www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-how-gcse-as-and-a-level-grades-should-be-awarded-in-summer-2021/outcome/decisions-on-how-gcse-as-and-a-level-grades-will-be-determined-in-summer-2021-html

This specifies that teachers can use assess work throughout the course

It's not going to help teachers (or students) if they keep tweaking them

@AllAboveAverage if he’s worn out then that’s absolutely not what he wants to hear. Your poor DS. Not at all helpful for you now but DDs school said to have a week off at half term. If I’d have said similar they wouldn’t have listened and would have studied. School saying it gave them a free rein to watch an awful lot of Netflix. My eldest actually slept around 14 hours a day every day. I don’t think any of us had appreciated how exhausted she was.

Indeed, tweaking is definitely not good. So therefore bound to happen.

Looks like private candidates may be in a mess again too! ‘Work with a school’ - doubt that’s as easy as it sounds.

[quote NotDonna]@AllAboveAverage if he’s worn out then that’s absolutely not what he wants to hear. Your poor DS. Not at all helpful for you now but DDs school said to have a week off at half term. If I’d have said similar they wouldn’t have listened and would have studied. School saying it gave them a free rein to watch an awful lot of Netflix. My eldest actually slept around 14 hours a day every day. I don’t think any of us had appreciated how exhausted she was.[/quote]
Thank you. DS had half term off from school work, and I had hoped it would refresh him. But with nothing to do and nowhere to go, it was just another boring week, so while he was able to sleep in, his resources are still low.

I thought it was interesting that the email that DS's school sent out was fairly lengthy, but no mention of mental health was made. The Head who put his name to it has a reputation for standards rather than care, so I am not surprised.

@treeeeemendous

I don't understand why the schools have not been given guidance today as to how they will be assessing.

Because the exam boards probably only found out today!!

@NotDonna

Looks like private candidates may be in a mess again too! ‘Work with a school’ - doubt that’s as easy as it sounds.

I disagree - exam boards will provide a package of support materials including questions, mark schemes,examplar materials, advice re content converage, topics, marking and grading judgments for private candidates.

I suspect it will come down to whether they will be allowed to charge for this and whether the private candidate wants to pay for this.

What date do teachers have to finish their assessment by / when are they submitting grades?

@treeeeemendous

What date do teachers have to finish their assessment by / when are they submitting grades?

We don't know yet!

I found this in the Ofqual document linked above:

“Centres will also be encouraged, as part of their overall quality assurance, to consider the grades for this year’s cohort compared to cohorts from previous years when exams have taken place, to make sure they have not been overly lenient or harsh in their assessment of the 2021 cohort.”

That appears to contradict entirely the previous announcements that the 2021 grades will have the same “generosity” as the 2020 grades.

@treeeeemendous

What date do teachers have to finish their assessment by / when are they submitting grades?

I thought I’d read that grades had to be submitted to the exam boards by the 18th June.

Agree goldendog the QA section looks pretty thorough to me. It says something about every centre being checked for internal quality assurance. every centre that’s quite something, unless I’ve misunderstood. It goes onto say that there’ll be sampling for external QA. Sounds pretty robust to me.

says something about every centre being checked for internal quality assurance

It says that exam boards have to check that schools know what is expected and that they have put in place appropriate arrangements. That could simply be a self-declaration.

Yes grades will be submitted by 18 June. (To the poster who asked if this is later than usual - there is no usual. Grades are usually exam grades). Last year nothing post lockdown could be included in the grading so it was all work until 20 March that was used. This year they can work as late as possible to feed the grades but I suspect there may be nothing post May half term included to give schools the time to go through the process of grading and internal checks.

Each exam board will issue requirements for internal quality assusrance (and the JCQ boards will have worked together on this) and they will also make sure external quality assurance is also consistent.

Part of the internal check will be to ensure that it is roughly inline with pervious years' results and not too harsh or too lenient.

The boards will check each centre's internal process and in a sample review the evidence for one or more subjects.

the Head of Centre will be required to submit a declaration confirming that the requirements for internal quality assurance have been met.

Boards will process grades submitted only after completing and being satisfied with any external quality assurance.

Oh that’s a bit rubbish noble. It was made to sound a bit more robust than a self declaration. I think you’re more used to seeing through the BS than I.

@portico

Hi all, just wondering. When you mention your children are doing mcoks when they return to school. Are you referring to Y11, 12 or 13.My Y13 has mocks to do, but not my Y11

DD is Y11 - did mocks last November/December and will do Mack again when she goes back.

I wonder how many exam papers the school will
make them do just to get evidence.

I lost track of this thread so good to see (belatedly) it’s still carrying on.

I need to catch up properly but the proposals sound like there’s too much flexibility and variables.

I can’t see who the poster was now but Regarding grade submission date of 18th June the last gcse exam DD1 did in 2019 was on 14th June. So the timing is similar to exams.

@LynetteScavo doesn’t just have to be exams, can be course work and end of topic tests too I assume

I have accepted that DS, who was predicted comfortable grade 8s and 9s this time last year, will probably be more likely to be awarded 4-6s. He was doing fine until just before Xmas when uncertainty set in, the had a total breakdown over the holidays.
He is currently doing mocks (GCSEs) which have been postponed twice and has done zero revision for them. We have tried every which way to encourage him. He has been a compliant, eager and engaged school attendee up until this point, and is desperate to get back to school. I think everyone has grossly underestimated the effect lockdown and remote learning has had on this age group. Watching a happy, hard working straight-A student gradually break down has been devastating for us. It has had nothing to do with his work ethic but all to do with the overwhelming social isolation he has felt.
Ultimately, his grades will not reflect his ability but I doubt that GCSEs awarded in 2020/21/22 will have any value going forward.

@NotDonna

Oh that’s a bit rubbish noble. It was made to sound a bit more robust than a self declaration. I think you’re more used to seeing through the BS than I.

Not when you risk all your candidates hbeing subject to moderation or them being disqualified. I suspect that makes it fairly robust.

M@NotDonna that was me. I saw the 18th June in the statement this morning, but on reading the later statement no dates are mentioned but this

In the consultation we proposed that teachers’ assessment should take place as late in the academic year as is practicable, so that students could continue to be taught for as long as possible. Seventy-seven per cent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the proposal that students continue to engage with their education for the remainder of the academic year and 15% disagreed or strongly disagreed.

So I was wondering if they were expecting the students to stay until the end of the year. But if assessments have to be done by mid June. I can't imagine there would be much enthusiasm from students to stay for an extra 4 weeks or so.

@Angrymum22 you have described my ds exactly, he had a massive wobble for his mocks resulting in a downturn in his grades and has struggled since as his self esteem took a kicking. I wholeheartedly agree with your last sentence.