Exams cancelled 2

[Orangeblossom1977]

Started a new thread as last one is full.

I think it’s also important to not lose sight of the fact that this course was not supposed to be one judged on continuous assessment. The students started the course on a final exams basis and that has now fundamentally changed.

You're right that they started the course on a final exams basis, and that this has changed, but it has been pretty clear for some months that teacher assessment was a possibility. I'm sure that this has focused the mind for a lot of students.

I do understand that some kids have really struggled to work through lockdown, but if they haven't been engaging for months, surely this will impact on their performance in any exams/assessments happening after 8 March anyway?

It must be incredibly frustrating for parents with children who are not going to fulfill their potential, but I think it's only fair for teachers to assess kids on the basis of the work that they've done - making allowances for disadvantaged kids as required.

Alexa I think that’s where the “generosity” factor comes into play when schools assess the grades. This should reflect lost learning.
Personally I think exams should have gone ahead, but accept I’m probably in the minority.

Personally I think exams should have gone ahead, but accept I’m probably in the minority.

My dd would have been far happier with exams going ahead, but she worked well through lockdown and did not miss lots of school due to self isolation etc. Other kids were not so fortunate, so we accept that it probably wasn't fair for the exams to go ahead as scheduled.

I would have run exams with reduced content and more question choice. That would have gone some way to levelling the unequal learning opportunities. Grade boundaries could also have been adjusted.
Sadly that ship has sailed!

Ok so I agree this outcome seems the best one.
But how does it address the many children who have lost learning overall and those who cannot engage in online learning (DS I'm looking at you).
Surely many children will be working at a lower grade than they normally would have been. Wouldn't it be right to give them a bit of grade inflation?

@SeasonFinale

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.

Nice précis.

Thanks

For those worrying by Easter the exam boards will have sent out to the schools more information surrounding the grading process. Remember they will be being assessed on what they have actually covered so if there are untaught elements then they will not be examined on this. The mini assessments that schools can opt into are "topic based tests" so much more like the end of topic/end of term shorter tests. I actually hope more schools will opt into these as my understanding is that data surrounding grade boundaries will be provided for them and will help make grading more uniform.

Try to remember teachers see 100s of kids go through and can generally have a really good idea from how they work what grade they will end up with (even allowing for crammers). It may not be the doom and gloom you think it is; indeed the element of a bad day/wrong questions/misreading the question/nerves/sickness will actually be taken away.

Try to stay calm and not let your DC see you are anxious as this may make them anxious too.

If you have a crammer though could you give them a higher grade on the basis you know they are a crammer even though you have no coursework to back that grade

@Angrymum22 I can echo what you’re going through - my DD had a host of MH issues in yr10/11 and came out scraping passes in her GCSES, they didn’t reflect her ability at all but crucially they were enough to get onto A levels course that she wanted. She desperately wanted the opportunity to take A level exams this year to prove that she could do exams but it’s not to be.
Most important thing is for him to get well and somehow things will work out

@ineedaholidaynow

If you have a crammer though could you give them a higher grade on the basis you know they are a crammer even though you have no coursework to back that grade

I would think and hope that the grades given are evidence-based rather than speculative. One of my sixth formers told me yesterday that at GCSE he was a crammer, but saw which way the wind was blowing and changed his work habits (and is already providing evidence of meriting the higher grade he's aiming for).

I don't think my school are going to let us award a grade on the basis that the student might have pulled it out of the bag on the day if there's no paper-based evidence to support that.

@goldendog

I would have run exams with reduced content and more question choice. That would have gone some way to levelling the unequal learning opportunities. Grade boundaries could also have been adjusted. Sadly that ship has sailed!

Me too. I think this outcome is very far from the best one.

They are all going to be woefully unprepared for university! 😥

@ineedaholidaynow From my initial reading of the guidance, no you wouldn't. Last year it was "award the grade they would have got". This year is a very different feel. It's award the grade that you have evidence of and that is fair considering what they have been taught.

I predict students to finish at May half term. Staff need time to moderate and input grades. That moderation cannot happen in a couple of days, remember how long CAGs took last year!

I suspect SLTs to be coming up with school wide assessment plans.

@picknmix1984

They are all going to be woefully unprepared for university! 😥

I'm not so sure. My DD is lucky not to have lost much learning. I hope her college will make some time for them to do lab practicals, as that is where she might look lost on a science degree. They've only done 6 out of 14! But others will be in the same boat.

I'm many ways, they might be better prepared for University. Self-study ought to be ingrained. They'll be better equipped to use the technology and access resources in different formats, more used to seeking out help, when needed, from afar. My DD will be more emotionally prepared. She's experienced isolation, discovered what works best to help her climb up from a low mood. Communicating with friends via video calls, organising Netflix parties, online boardgames etc... is all second nature now. They will have more tools in their box to deal with that.

I feel she is socially less prepared for university - having lacked experiences that usually occur in 6th form and foster independence.

I am really hoping that if there is going to be assessments next term that the students are well aware of what topics to revise over the Easter holidays.

Certainly at dd's school so far they have just been continuing with lessons and then being given homework as normal. They have been revising for specific tests rather than any overall revision going on. They did mocks in November.

@goldendog

I would have run exams with reduced content and more question choice. That would have gone some way to levelling the unequal learning opportunities. Grade boundaries could also have been adjusted. Sadly that ship has sailed!

Yes I think this was definitely possible.

I don't think they'll be underprepared for university in a lot of subjects where it doesn't really matter - eg if you want to study law it doesn't matter if you didn't read all the books you needed to read for your Eng lit A level. It's going to be more of an issue for science-based degrees but hopefully universities will put catch-up plans in place.

I feel she is socially less prepared for university - having lacked experiences that usually occur in 6th form and foster independence

Yes I thinking the same yesterday - ds has been stuck in his bedroom for a large part of his sixth form experience. Hopefully they can make the most of the summer.

I’m still wondering, in general, what schools are prioritising. Covering the whole curriculum OR ensuring thorough consolidation and revision of already completed topics and stopping new content. Did the guidance say the former? It’s a tough call. Our school are doing the former.
Yr13 DD is covering new topics for all 3 A levels, which they hope to have completed by Easter (chemistry probably after Easter). They are keen to get through all topics. So it’s unlikely they’ll have time for consolidation and revision before any mini assessments. Although they’ve had end of topic tests remotely, so they may count. They’d have a few extra weeks of consolidation and revision if it was regular A levels. She feels very rushed. They’ve only had period of isolation.
Yr11 DD has covered five of her subjects but the other 5 have a topic or two remaining. She feels less rushed and that there’ll be time for consolidation before any assessments after Easter. Again they’ve had end of topic tests remotely. They’ve had 2 periods of isolation.

I agree with fortyfifty that in many ways this will be helpful prep for some university courses. Most university courses have very little content hours compared to 6th form, so independent learning is key. Whether they’ll have covered the content in enough depth/breadth will not doubt vary immensely. Universities will be preparing for this and maybe students themselves will need to try to cover any gaps best they can during the summer holidays.

No indeed the purpose of the mini assessments is that they are tested on what they have actually covered because they do not expect everything to have been covered.

Of course if schools keep the y11s I until the end of term they will be able to cover missed content then but without having to test this/give a grade for this.

@NotDonna My DDs college is focusing on finishing the courses. Maths and sciences. On top of that they have had tests and honework to keep consolidating their learning.

Different schools and even subjects will be prioritising different things.
I've finished everything with all my classes. Mocks are always about now so I have to have. We taught online from the first lockdown and we thought they'd be examined as normal so I've kept going. We're revising.
Other colleagues are a little behind because of the nature of their timetables or their groups. But English is more or less done.
Maths is not. But they never are because there's so much of it!!! They're continuing to teach new content because they want to cover the course.
Remember that we found out about this at the same time as everyone else. We're just as incredulous and just as baffled.

DS's school have now postponed (or possibly cancelled) the second set of mocks they were going to have this term. More details are to follow (I assume once they receive the guidance from the Exam Boards)

There was always an expectation it could go to some form of teacher assessment though. Indeed this is more teacher assessment light than last time where there was an algorithm too and on the basis that there will be an element of choice as to what will be included by schools to form the basis of the assessed grades.

The only thing that is baffling I guess is that this wasn't addressed and a plan wasn't already in place before it went to lockdown/before exams were cancelled again. Unfortunately I am not incredulous that they hadn't already sorted out what would happen in the evenutality of cancelled exams, when this could have been addressed after last Summer's fiasco in case it was required.

They are supposed to be tested on what they have covered but also schools will have to sign a form to say that they have covered enough content for smooth transition to their next stage.

The DfE ducked the issue of what percentage of the course should be covered. I'm not sure if that will come out in the exam board subject guidance.