Teacher Accessed Grades - what a joke

[Zpegleg]

I have just found out that my daughters school is doing full A level exams for A levels - that is nine 2 hour exams in May She has three weeks to sit them with no knowledge of content. The mental health at the school is terrible. Other schools are doing one hour mini exams and giving the predicted grades to the students. Their head teacher told the teachers make sure you give them A* -As . So they are telling the students what is in the tests. This is so unfair. Some students just get As for one mini exam , my daughter has to sit 3 x 2 hour exams for the same A level. How can this system be right. There is no standardised method across schools.

I cannot understand how this government has palmed this off and ‘ trusted the teachers’ . That is rubbish.

Oh, this is all enough of a mess without handbags at dawn between the exam boards and the DfE!

@noblegiraffe

I read a tweet from someone a couple of days ago saying they’d talked to AQA after the DfE webinar where it came out about the papers and AQA themselves were unaware that this was expected and thought it a stupid idea.

So it sounds like they’re going against Ofqual.

They announced last summer that mocks could be used against Ofqual's advice so that doesn't surprise me.

Teacher here. Feel so disappointed for these students. Last year was hideous and this year the folk who make the decisions have screwed up again but have manipulated the situation in such a way that teachers can be blamed on results day. To be reasonable though there is no ideal solution.
Teachers have not been given sufficient information so ( the vast majority of us) are doing what we can to try and support our students, and having to make it up as we go along. We don't do our job for the big bucks, most of us do it because we enjoy it and it is worthwhile, we aren't trying to cheat and flex the system.
I teach Physics, GCSE and A level. If I can help anyone's child with advice or a quick virtual revision session ( free of course) dm me and I will if I can. I am gutted for them.
We need to model what to do in life when it is unfair and going wrong: work on what you do have control over and try to keep perspective.

So do you think AQA will not be releasing the papers before the assessments in May? Yet another level of complete unfairness in the mix.

@Tonylepony schools do not have to use the exam board materials so I would go to the school for info first. They may be making their own assessments. Problem is schools have been waiting to see what exam boards were going to give us. It is worth noting that the November 2020 grade boundaries were, in some cases, 20% lower than normal. I cannot see how it can all be made fair, unfortunately.

Thanks for the information @user1468175625. In fairness I cannot fault dss teachers and have every confidence in them guiding the dcs to the best of their abilities. Every now and then though I just feel angry at the situation ds is in.
You sound like a wonderful teacher btw.

Totally understand why you feel angry. It doesn't help but we are too. If it is any help I suspect there might be another change of plan when the exam boards push back. The Y11s and U6 I teach are now fabulously independent and resilient for their ages which should pay off in their futures. Also those who have slogged and given themselves a good grounding will benefit in their next stage.
I hope your d(s)s manages to get through all this feeling okay, the fact he has you cheering him on will undoubtedly help.

I looked carefully at what AQA and DfES had said following Nobel's update and I think that if they release whatever "pack" they are sending to schools by the 30th, to students, after Easter, it could be that the pack doesn't include the most recent papers - which would remain on their secure site. But who knows?!

DfES said the reason for the post-Easter release was to stop students crafting and memorising answers over the Easter break. Which of course students will still attempt to do, just faster.

But given that we break up on the 26th, none of this helps us very much as there's no chance of us seeing the "pack" or even of being sure if anyone's made a u-turn, before the holidays! And realistically, even schools that do break up on the 30th would struggle to react in any sensible way.

I am now considering writing my own papers over Easter just in case...a task apparently so.difficult, the exam boards couldn't do it in 3 months. Maybe I'm in the wrong job .

The comments so far back up my thoughts about unequal marks. How can you compare one student with another. They have passed the buck to the schools. My daughter has so much work at the moment ( 10 essays) a week for homework plus learning for exams. She never goes out even for a walk. The teachers have all the power. How can this remove stress from her. I feel so much for this year group. I feel the government has passed the buck as too hard for them. They should have just given them their predicted grades like last year and let them go.