Raw score and grades etc

[illiteratticom]

Hi

I've been googling and still confused about this and whether the GCSE grades correlate with , e.g. you have to get at least 50% to get a C ( grade 4 now?) or whether the actual percentage needed to get a 5 is lower? DS starting Y10 in Sept...

I think my question stems from when I was at school; the pass grades were A-C. I went to local school (just pre ofsted; well thought of locally). When there, during school, if you got 50-59% , it was a C, 60-70% a B, and > 70% an A.

I middled around mostly Bs and Cs with 1 or 2 As thrown in and then, in O and A - levels did much much better (not from harder work as so did the rest of us) and got only As and Bs ( just a majority of As!) . I then learnt that when you took the exam with the rest of the country, that the percentage score you needed to get to get the As and Bs were much lower than had been given at school - if you were at a school where the standard was generally higher than average.

So , as DS at a v good state, and is starting his GSCE course, I'm trying to find out a bit more about what this means for the scores he's currently achieving and how to support him in the next 2 years.

I hope my post makes sense as I'm confused!

With Combined science it has to either All Higher or All Foundation papers. You can't do Higher for Chemistry & Biology but Foundation for Physics.

Grading for Combined goes ....3-2, 3-3, 4-3, 4-4, 5-4, 5-5, 6-5, 6-6, 7-6 ...
You can't get higher than 5-5 for Foundation. However you aren't meant to be able to go below 4-3 for Higher though they had to reduce that to 3-3 the first year (and later I'm not sure?) as too many Higher kids were bombing out completely.

You can view it as Physics pulling down the others, or Chemistry & Biology pulling up Physics dependent on your point of view.

I'd get a Physics tutor too if that's his weakest subject.

[quote MissKeithsNeice]@Taxiparent was i right that its done on fixed percentage per cohort or have I got that completely wrong?

I started to Google but I'm finding it hard to wade through the stuff about grading procedures this year[/quote]
It changes year by year depending on the ability level of the cohort entered. Grade 9 is very hard to predict as a target grade for a student as it is the top 2 % of grades each year.

If your DC is only in Year 9 and currently working at a Level 5, then there really is no need to worry.

And 5 is a perfectly respectable grade anyway!
As Teen says the only issue with combined science is if you have a "patchy" child who is significantly better or worse at one science as you have to take higher or foundation for all sciences; you can't mix and match as you can for triple.
Physics has "clicked" later with both my DC. I think it's also a subject where being good at maths will help you pick up marks in the exam. DD has been really struggling in physics compared to the other sciences (I would have described her as like your DC) but actually got her highest science mark in Physics in her end of Year 10 exams (to be fair she got 40,41 and 42 so not a lot in it ...). DS was predicted a Level 3 in Physics (taking separate sciences) at the end of Year 9 and is now taking it for A Level :)

If your son is in year 9, has he started his GCSE courses? If so the in school assessments will probably be past exam papers where the results will be comparable to grade boundaries. If he hasn’t yet started the content I would not put any weight on the current number grades given, I would be vary wary of any teacher predicting that a student is currently working at GCSE grade 8/9 if they are not completing GCSE work and exam questions.

You do also need to clearly understand what current reports are telling you, as different schools word reports differently.

If for a subject such as maths or English lang you get he is at a 6, does that mean 'if he sat it now he would get a 6' or does it actually mean 'if he continues on we currently predict he will get a 6 at the end of y11'.

What might it mean for science / history if most of the syllabus hasn't been covered yet? On the syllabus so far covered he is doing exam answers to a grade 5 level? Or 'based on how he is now we predict that in 2 years he will likely get a 5'?

So he's starting his GCSE courses in September. Teen - I will ask his teacher as have meeting with results next week so will be able to get more up to speed on the detail.

Up until now, we've wanted him to have a well balanced school life, so this was the 1st time we actively got involved and supported him with his revision (which thankfully he liked as think he enjoyed having company to revise with). As me and DH both have strengths in different subjects, we think he's doing well though he did need guidance on how to revise.

I agree that a grade 5 is a respectable grade - I think the thing that scares me about this new system is that if they do a foundation level, there's no chance later on - for the boys in particular, from what I've seen with my family and friends' DC wrt DSs vs DDs - to go from a C in Y10 to a B/A in their gsce. In fact, my DH said he flunked Maths all along while he was getting A/Bs in other subjects and then it " clicked " for him a few months before the exams and to his surprise got a B etc.
User - thanks for your reassuring Physics story!

At DD's school for maths they had what they called 'crossover sets' where they were taught some grade 6/7 material, but a decision was left until y11 as to which paper each individual would be entered for. Hopefully your school won't be limiting 'grade 5' pupils to Foundation based on where they are end y9, but it is worth asking.

ps The tiers aren't that new, they have been there since GCSEs started (I think), though maths used to have an intermediate tier - it is a shame they got rid of that, though I don't know whether 3 tiers was easier or harder for the teachers. Prior to GCSEs there were two tiers - O levels and CSEs.

Thanks - I will ask next week at the parents meeting. I feel much better informed now, am really pleased I posted. This thread has been a bit of an eye opener for me. It's odd as I work part time, spend a lot of time with my DC, engaged with how they were doing at school, grades and teacher feedback good and yet now I feel, have we been getting enough info from the teachers? I think I probably was but because of streaming/sets, I had misinterpreted the higher level feedback.

I've also realised that probably part of my anxieties when reading these replies when realising about the foundation level capping at a C was that in my time CSEs were done my those who were really struggling.

Teachers enter students for exams in Feb of Y11, the decision for tiers generally gets made after mocks at Xmas which are timed to help make these sorts of decisions a bit easier.

However tiers are not fixed and changes can be made right up to and including exam day if there's evidence to justify it.