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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

Advance information GCSE

27 replies

Manchestertimes · 02/01/2022 12:16

Does anyone think they might bring the advance information forward before 7th February. I really hope so as I think the next few weeks are going to be very disruptive!

OP posts:

noblegiraffe · 02/01/2022 12:18

I think they'll be too busy debating whether to cancel exams altogether.

MrsHamlet · 02/01/2022 14:00

I agree with noble

GrammarTeacher · 03/01/2022 06:48

As so often I'm in agreement with @noblegiraffe and @MrsHamlet.
The advance info for English (at GCSE and A Level) is as helpful as a chocolate teapot anyway.

MrsHamlet · 03/01/2022 07:57

Ah yes @GrammarTeacher - we're to be told the genre of the texts for Lang. Not especially helpful.

GrammarTeacher · 03/01/2022 08:01

Not helpful in the slightest. Particularly because they can actually write in any form for question 5 and still get the marks. The form is pretty much irrelevant!
There was no way of pre-releasing helpfully for language given it's based on being unseen literary analysis. It shouldn't be called language at all!

Hercisback · 03/01/2022 08:03

No chance.

Be amazed if exams happen now.

MrsHamlet · 03/01/2022 08:22

I was actually talking about A Level, GT
Since we already know the questions for GCSE Lang, I'm not remotely worried about that.

MistakenHoliday · 03/01/2022 08:45

I’ve got a sinking feeling that exams won’t happen again too. Another year of being an unofficial and unpaid exam board awaits…

Agree re: advance notice, utterly useless for English Language at A Level as well as GCSE.

meditrina · 03/01/2022 08:55

I thought that date was way to late, when it was first allowed, because there is so little teaching time after that.

But now it seems not so bad, as we do need to know whether schools will be disrupted in January and to what extent.

Because the playing field is already not level - schools have had both the formal closures in the terms since the exam courses began (with variation of effectiveness of offsite provision, usually outwith the schools responsibility- things like tech access) and also closures/disruptions due to local outbreaks, plus pupils/staff with 10 day isolations, some more than once

I think it should be TAGs alongside modified exams this year anyhow.

And if there is any further disruption, it would be so massively unfair across the class of 2022 that it would be an utter travesty

Original poster

Manchestertimes · 03/01/2022 08:56

I agree the advance information is not very helpful for English but it would help focus revision for other subjects especially science. I really hope exams do take place in the summer as the TAGs are so stressful for everyone - kids and teachers.

OP posts:

MrsHamlet · 03/01/2022 09:07

I do not want TAGs again.
The workload was horrific, and I resent doing for free what the exam board pay me to to.

NOTANUM · 03/01/2022 10:05

I hope there are exams this year. I know teachers say there is no bias but I think life is more complicated than that and I don’t know any school that swapped papers with another school for correction although it seems widespread according to teachers in MN. Conversely I do know schools who have experienced great improvement in two years for no obvious reason - some give the benefit of the doubt with home assignments (always open to parental/tutor help) and other schools that kept exam results steady. It’s just not a fair system on anyone - teachers, parents, pupils..
In my personal view exams are the only way, even if somewhat modifies or reduced in content.

NOTANUM · 03/01/2022 10:07

Apologies for typos: am doing the one thumbed post while a large dog tries to suffocate me!

MrsHamlet · 03/01/2022 10:14

We didn't swap. But there were in house processes to ensure a consistent and accurate standard of marking. My dept has two experienced examiners so we did that work.

noblegiraffe · 03/01/2022 10:16

The grade distribution rose massively across the whole country over the last 2 years. It was to be reduced slightly this year in order to try to ramp down back to normality.

If we have TAGs again, god knows what it will be like.

I really, really want exams to go ahead.

Haskell · 03/01/2022 11:16

On a personal level, as I have a child in Y11 this time, I desperately want exams to go ahead. The last two summers of CAGs and TAGs have been immensely challenging workwise, but that isn't the reason I don't want to do them again. I do think cags/tags are hugely unfair, they can't possibly be fair across the country, and they're particularly unfair to other cohorts who have been/who will be examined externally.
So, so dispiriting to read this thread and see most teachers think exams will not go ahead this time round. You chaps are usually right!

mnahmnah · 03/01/2022 11:27

I can’t imagine so for GCSE. A-level maybe.

Original poster

Manchestertimes · 03/01/2022 12:41

Can I ask any teachers if it did go to TAGs how does this work as usually students grades increase from mocks to real exams. If they use the recent mocks as a basis for final mark how is this fair? Sorry if I sound naive in thinking exams will go ahead but I hope they do as it's the best option. I also don't really know the process for TAGs - is it also based on work from year 10?

OP posts:

mnahmnah · 03/01/2022 12:44

Last year we used specific assessments that the students knew were being used for their CAGs. They were a range of styles and level of control. My yr 11 have mocks in a couple of weeks and we have told them they may well be used for CAGs, so to compete them to the best of their ability.

twelly · 03/01/2022 12:47

I think exam have to happen in some way this year as the current year 13s did not have formal GCSE exams. The grades across GCSE and A levels are all over the place, yes they are higher on average but within that there are huge anomalies - schools conducted the exams in different ways and I think comparisons across schools are very difficult

MrsHamlet · 03/01/2022 14:56

We used some year 10 and some y11 (or y12/13) work. We had to get that plan approved by ofqual and tell parents and students what was happening in advance.
We've been told to have three sets of mocks for 11/13 just in case. Unfortunately this news came too late in term for that to happen

NOTANUM · 03/01/2022 15:25

On another forum (twitter?), a university admissions tutor said they needed exams to go ahead as the wrong kids were getting into the wrong courses and were struggling. This is without thinking of the students who didn’t get a deserved place.

The latest podcast on the Guardian Long Reads podcast illustrates this point very well.

crankysaurus · 03/01/2022 15:38

Is there likely to be a date this year when the decision to hold exams or not will be made or is it still really up in the air? Watching this thread with interest as we have a Y11 who's only just getting back into his stride and has had poor grades through the much of the pandemic to date (and so might do better in the final exams). We hear virtually nothing from school, though I tend to give the benefit of the doubt as they might not know themselves.

Justwingingit2005 · 03/01/2022 15:40

From a parents POV my year 11 has had a terrible GCSE experience.
No teacher for social science in all year 10.
No science teacher for year 11.
How can he be expected to take exams in these subjects.
Do the exam boards assume schools are all functioning normally......

MrsHamlet · 03/01/2022 15:52

February is when we'll be told which act of the play they'll be assessed on for A level - but it could all change at any moment anyway.

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