What’s going to happen with A’levels? Unfinished GCSEs syllabus

[Billythegreat]

DS did brilliantly in the subjects he’s talking for A’levels - 8s and 9. He hasn’t finished the syllabus for any of the subjects though especially the sciences and I believe they’re quite difficult subjects, Chemistry, Biology and geography. He’s going to a college for A’levels as his school doesn’t go beyond GCSEs so I’m worried they won’t know where his gaps are. Will this be a problem?

None of the schools local to me tested dc on the full syllabus I don’t know why you think I’m making it up.

Did they study the full syllabus?

Teachers on this thread have even said they’re expecting it so it’s not unusual.

@Bryonyshcmyony
Did they study the full syllabus no. The only school I know that did was my friends dds school and she sat full GCSE type exams in exam conditions. I was surprised by this when talking to her last week, hence my OP.

Sorry for name change failure on my previous post. I don’t want my friend to associate this thread with me.

Where are all these schools that covered the full syllabus? All the kids round here had the same experience as op's son - missing topics and grades done by assessments in exam conditions. There were no formal exams this year. I know mumsnetters tend to use private schools but even those ones in this region didn't do a full syllabus or public exams, because there weren't any public exams. Don't see how they could do it really. Schools shut in march, nothing much till Easter, a few kids in and remote learning for the others towards the summer but not a full timetable, back in September bouncing in and out of bubbles until December, then not in at all, then back for eight weeks or so which were mostly assessments, then all done by the end of may. How could they have taught the full course? The kids were only actually in school for about 30 weeks in total over the two years, if that.

As for your ds, OP, congratulations to him. It's been a fucked up year and they've all done brilliantly. Can you email his subject teachers from school to get a bit of guidance for next steps? Don't know how accurate an idea they'll have of his potential because this cohort have had such a weird learning structure but it could give you something to think about.

Btw the grades aren't particularly inflated, not in terms of last year or even generally really, and all the assessment processes have been overseen so his qualifications are pretty accurate and it's not a question of that, more about how the missing content is likely to impact him.

Loads of schools covered the full syllabus. It was online learning whilst they were locked down.

Surely a 7 would have been a more appropriate grade to stop kids like the Ops ds thinking they are just going to swan into A level.

Well no not really because then nobody would get more than a 7.

I’m not sure why everyone thinks they know better what grades the ops son ought to have had. The school will have had its process approved by the exam board. They will have submitted 3-5 pieces of evidence for each subject depending on the board.
Yes it isn’t consistent, yes it isn’t fair that grades are over the place but at the end of the day it is what it is and just because the ops son was fortunate enough to be at a school where their process was engineered to give maximum assistance to the kids, it doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have received those grades in normal times. He can’t be penalised for the fact that his school didn’t cover the syllabus nor that it’s process was very generous.

This doesn’t change the fact that he should get himself up to speed but he’ll soon discover that for himself and hopefully pull his finger out.

All gcse grades for this years cohort are clearly going to be taken with a large pinch of salt. The universities will know this.

the ops son was fortunate enough to be at a school where their process was engineered to give maximum assistance to the kids

But he’s not fortunate, surely. He’s unfortunate. The school has done a disservice to the kid, not helped them.

Of course they haven’t. The ops son has better than expected gcse grades. That’s good.

He will soon realise if he’s behind and can spend his evenings catching up if he’s missed sections of the syllabus but he certainly won’t be the only one.

I already replied to the OP on the other thread, as did several other teachers who gave lengthy and sensible advice. OP - you seem to be stuck on the idea that as your son has excellent GCSE grades then he does not need to follow any of the advice. Not really sure why you asked for it in the first place.

For what it is worth I will repeat what I said there. In EVERY year I have taught A Level, not just during the covid years the best students how some gumption and initiative. They will already have got hold of the A Level spec. they will be reading around the topics. They will have ordered study guides or relevent text books online. They will be watching relevant podcasts and TV progs.

I still advise your son to do the same - he should have started to do that two months ago.

But he’s not fortunate, surely. He’s unfortunate. The school has done a disservice to the kid, not helped them

I wish my DSs school had done my ds such a disservice. Instead he sat the equivalent of full GCSEs at least two papers for ten subjects over the course of six weeks. He frequently had two different exams a day and it was far more intensive than normal GCSEs. Full syllabus examined, no shortening of topics for revision purposes. Then for the additional evidence the schools reassessed all grade boundaries so the 8/9 grades they thought they had received in mock exams and test 10 exams were a
downgraded to 6s and 7s to fit a bell curve.

They will already have got hold of the A Level spec. they will be reading around the topics. They will have ordered study guides or relevent text books online. They will be watching relevant podcasts and TV progs

This. Pretty much all we’ve watched as a family all summer is Tudor stuff in readiness for the first a level history module for ds1

DD's school didn't teach the full syllabus (or much of anything in some subjects during lockdown), but they were tested on the full syllabus. She did well, but taught herself lots. Luckily for her, 2 of her A level subjects are completely new, one doesn't rely on last year's knowledge and one she is totally up to speed on. Which is just as well as her school kicked them out way too early and have provided no transition work.

Oh...and we don't even know which textbooks to buy for 2 of the subjects.

My DD is doing chemistry, biology and geography A level. She has spent a significant amount of her summer break working on transition work set by the school. I believe they will have tests when they go back to gueage gaps.

Why did your son's school flout the nationally agreed assessment process @HasaDigaEebowai? They weren't supposed to test the full syllabus for anything, not even English in the end; they were originally due to but then that changed. Can you complain?

For what it is worth I will repeat what I said there. In EVERY year I have taught A Level, not just during the covid years the best students how some gumption and initiative. They will already have got hold of the A Level spec. they will be reading around the topics. They will have ordered study guides or relevent text books online. They will be watching relevant podcasts and TV progs

Dd1 and dd2 did almost none of this and ended up with top grades. I wish they had, but it's not always necessary.

The exam board website has lots of the info you are looking for. The specs are there, past papers, mark schemes, usually links to useful websites and textbooks.

The BBC Bitesize site also has good summaries of topics and links to useful sources of information. You Tube search ' Crash course' for great resources on most subjects.

A Level students need to be prepared to go the extra mile and develop independent research and study skills.

@Bryonyshcmyony

For what it is worth I will repeat what I said there. In EVERY year I have taught A Level, not just during the covid years the best students how some gumption and initiative. They will already have got hold of the A Level spec. they will be reading around the topics. They will have ordered study guides or relevent text books online. They will be watching relevant podcasts and TV progs

Dd1 and dd2 did almost none of this and ended up with top grades. I wish they had, but it's not always necessary.

In my subject areas even the most gifted students need to be doing their own research and work beyond what I teach in class and set them as assignments. I have taught A Level for 25 years - hundreds of students. I can only speak for myself and my experience.

Well done to your ds and I second those head start A level books, if he wants them, it will get his brain working. A Levels are a shock, but best to go into it feeling confident - just tell him he will have to expect to work hard and may have some gaps. Dd had about 40 mini exams in classroom setting and some reduced curriculum/steer on topics. They covered everything afaik though. She worked flat out in lockdown. To be honest exam conditions might have been easier to concentrate.

In my subject areas even the most gifted students need to be doing their own research and work beyond what I teach in class and set them as assignments. I have taught A Level for 25 years - hundreds of students. I can only speak for myself and my experience

I think they did do more work and research than they needed but not the summer before. Which subject do you teach?

Why did your son's school flout the nationally agreed assessment process @HasaDigaEebowai?

I’m a parent not a teacher but I don’t think they did, they’d already covered the whole syllabus, the centre policy was approved. Lots of their subjects were iGCSEs and so right up until the last minute it seemed like the full exam board exams were going ahead. The most annoying thing was the regrading of papers they’d already sat and had re graded to reflect higher grade boundaries. Other schools would have used the original grades.

Apparently ds says some of the content was limited for some exams but they were only told this shortly before the exams and so had spent time revising more broadly.

Ds1 still did really well but it was incredibly hard work and very stressful for them.