Local schools getting easier GCSE exams / inflated grades

[JoannaFurneaux]

Hi all,
my daughter is currently at grammar school where they are having very strictly run exams over the course of a month. 2 per subject. One of his friends goes to a local private school. Apparently his friend at private school said they have been having exams for weeks all of which can go towards their exam grades. Her friend who previously had struggled is forecasted to get almost top marks in every subject! Another friend at the same private school is also getting much higher predicted grades. Previously had also struggled as well. This sounds extremely unfair and is putting extra pressure on my own daughter and is surely not an isolated case. Does anyone know the best place I can complain to about this? I simply want to ensure the fairest possible outcome for my own daughter which at present it sounds like she wont get.
Thank you
Jo

[NeverDropYourMoonCup]

@noblegiraffe

The papers are being treated with the same level of security precautions as normal ones from Edexcel/AQA

This isn't true in the slightest, and the guidance doesn't suggest that they should be. The guidance says that a range of evidence can be taken into account including work done at home. If that doesn't suggest lack of security and rigour, then I don't know what does.

OK. Didn't realise you worked with me - were you the one who nicked borrowed my stapler on Wednesday afternoon whilst I was locking the papers back in the exams office?

[HercwasanEnemyofEducation]

There's a slight issue with giving students grades for "work they are doing now". If that grade is above their TAG, you're wide open to appeals. We're saying nothing about grades. SLT will be having a 1:1 with every student to give them a "your grades are in the range 3-4 for most subjects" to manage expectations. We are aware they've had no grade information since mid November due to lockdown.

[noblegiraffe]

No, I don't work with you, but don't assume that all schools are following the same process as you and that if they aren't, they aren't following JCQ guidance.

Suggesting that not doing so would be malpractice is pretty misleading.

[HercwasanEnemyofEducation]

@NeverDropYourMoonCup
I think noble is disagreeing with you that JCQ guidance says the assessments have to be treated with the same security as normal exams, they don't.

[HercwasanEnemyofEducation]

Mega cross posts there!

[NeverDropYourMoonCup]

[quote HercwasanEnemyofEducation]@NeverDropYourMoonCup
I think noble is disagreeing with you that JCQ guidance says the assessments have to be treated with the same security as normal exams, they don't.[/quote]
Who wants to find out afterwards that there's an allegation that the assessments were handed out to kids in advance and the results mean absolutely nothing, though?

It's not as if the kids were in school for long enough to all be assessed fairly this academic year, what with self isolation, bubbles bursting, inequality of access to online learning despite buying them all laptops if they didn't have one, etc.


Maybe it's a downside of being at an honest school.

[HercwasanEnemyofEducation]

"honest school"

It's nothing to do with that. The papers are online!

[noblegiraffe]

Who wants to find out afterwards that there's an allegation that the assessments were handed out to kids in advance

But that's what the exam boards were told to do by Ofqual! How can you complain to the school that assessments were handed out in advance when that has been not only green-lit, but aided by the exam regulators?

[noblegiraffe]

I don't think you've seen the actual guidance, Mooncup. You think that because what your school is doing is reasonable, that what other schools are doing is unreasonable.

But it is the guidance that is unreasonable. What the schools are doing is totally within the guidance.

[Zandathepanda]

TheLeftHand not disagreeing with you - I went to private and public and have taught in private but mainly state. My Dds are at a big comp - the provision is very good but there have been problems with a class size and disruption this year. I know the nearest private in the same year has seen more problems with drugs and perfectionism-related stress, because a know a teacher and pupil there too. Lots of different scenarios. But universities do understand this state v private and contextualised offers are the result. And also the statistics I mentioned bear this out on average.

No axe to grind - if I had genuinely thought it was worth it, I would have overlooked ideological principles and would have sent Dds to private. Like my parents did with me. I am also ‘pushy’ in that when one of my Dds humanities A Level examination grades was suspiciously low a few years ago, her teachers told me to get it remarked - I paid for it to be remarked and it had been marked incorrectly. She jumped up nearly 2 grade boundaries (got the money back from the exam board) so we had the ready money we could afford to lose to correct a mistake. Money buys things. Dd didn’t even ‘need’ it as she was in to her university with A* in the others but I wanted to right a wrong.

However, this year and last will be interesting to study in terms of private v state. We have both said there are parents who buy into the independent sector paying for grades and it will/may be found to be true in a few cases with statistical analysis. Also in some of the more competitive academies. But with the independent sector you have got the fact you are marketing a business, hoping parents will buy-in committing to spending huge amounts of money forgoing holidays etc. Which turns up the pressure to get the ‘best’ grades for future marketing and present ‘customers’. Of course the schools need evidence which is why the OP said they are piling the assessments on. But it will look dodgy statistically against historical data.

I am grateful I am not a teacher in any sector this year. And my Dds are not in Year 11 or 13. As someone else summarised: it’s a sh*tshow.