2023 GCSE and A’level grade boundaries

[reallynearlytheres]

I believe these going back to 2019 levels. Having DC doing both A’levels and GCSEs this year I do think this is somewhat unfair. My DC we’re probably some of the luckier ones during the pandemic but I can see it definitely has has an impact on them educationally in that they weren’t as prepared knowledge wise and didn’t have the same study skills at the start of their GCSE and A’level courses.
I looked at grade boundaries for OCR physics A’level and there is a whole 10% difference in a B grade between 2019 and 2022. Wouldn’t it be better to meet somewhere in the middle this year? (I know I’m biased as a parent!)

The grade boundaries mean nothing at all

Because every paper has a different level of difficulty

So will there be the same number of DC getting A’s this year as last year?

yes, the boundaries are fixed on the bell curve, not before hand

The aim is that the proportions of different grades given out match the 2019 year, not the inflated 2020 and 2021 years.
Where the boundaries are in terms of marks/percentages is irrelevant.

So if say 25% got 7-9 in 2019, then the aim is 25% get 7-9 this year, even if 2020 was 35%, 2021 was 38% and 2022 was 30%.

No. Same number of As as in 2019, which will possibly be fewer than 2020-2022. But the marks needed may be less (or more, or the same).

The concessions do have to stop at some point, and kids doing A-levels or GCSEs this year have had a largely uninterrupted two years to focus on their courses. I think it's reasonable to get back to pre-covid expectations now tbh. Otherwise, where do you draw the line? We'd have to wait another 15 years for things to work through the system if we were going to make concessions for all of the children whose learning was impacted in some way by covid!

My dd is in Y13 if it's relevant.

They are going back to the 2019 boundaries regarding the % who get each grades. It has been announced that fewer students will get the hard grades.

I have a year 13 and it’s just one of those things they have to go back to normal sometime.

Yes it could be said they have it hard as A levels are back to full content and practical components for sciences but they’ve had a pretty normal sixth form experience.

it just is what it is.

I think I was a bit confused. So I’m 2023 the same number of dc will get As, Bs and Cs etc as in 2019 and the grade boundaries will reflect that. I thought they would be the same using the same grade boundaries as 2019, but at the moment we don’t know what it will be? Thanks for the clarification.

Yes the same number (well actually proportion, dependent on size of cohort) will get As Bs and Cs as in 2019 and the grade boundaries will be set to achieve that.

In theory at least.

Imagine they want 25% to get level 7-9 as that’s the 2019 amount. In 2019 they looked at the marks students achieved and THEN set the grade boundaries so 25% get that level…..perhaps it might be that in 2019 65% and over was top 25%.

In 2023, they will do the same and set the boundaries AFTER the marking. It could mean that the top 25% all have marks of 70% , so that becomes the boundary.

When teachers mark mock papers, they are likely to use the most recent exam year papers usually - most will use 2019 this year.

I suspect that in reality in 2023 the percentages getting the higher grades will still be a bit up on 2019 when it comes to it…..probably just a bit and that will be the new norm. Although steady low level grade inflation is fairly standard. That’s why we might need a Level 10 in a few years.

I think any child who started in an exam year (so who was in year 10 -13) in September 2019, should have some concessions made until the end of their A levels.
DS2 is sitting A levels this year. He's at the disadvantage of never having sat an external exam since year 6. And began two A level sciences having never even finished the GCSE syllabus. All due to Covid.

@cptartapp my dd is in this years year 13 (doing 3 sciences) and I think it’s only fair it goes back this year. They’ve had an. Essentially normal year 12 & 13.

Sorry meant to add if I compare this years yr 13’s to my ds’s (he took GCSE’s in 2019) there is nothing vaguely comparable about their experiences.

As a DT teacher where no practical outcomes were manufactured in NI for the last two years these gcse and alevel pupils have a major disadvantage. There are A-level students who haven't manufactured since ks3 and the quality of the work shows that. Also the length of time for remote learning has led to the most unmotivated pupils I have ever taught and this is not just in my subject but from discussions with colleagues is across subjects and schools. I am genuinely concerned this year.

But the experience they've had is somewhat irrelevant to the % getting each grade.

Grades went up for 2 years because they were assessed by schools/teachers.

Then last year grades went back by ~half the distance because the fall was too much to handle.

This year they'll go back to where they 'should be', despite possibly the overall standard actually being lower due to missed learning / skills due to covid.

I agree. In all likelihood, if the papers are of equal difficulty to 2019, the grade boundaries will be lower, in order to achieve particular grades.

Yes, those in Yr13 didn’t sit GCSEs. That applies to whole cohort…which is why they might get lower marks in similar papers to other years, but they won’t be disadvantaged, as the grade boundaries will then be lower to ensure similar percentages get the upper grades. Last year’s Yr13 also hadn’t sat GCSEs,but they managed to sit their A Levels.

DS spent the first part of year 12 trying to catch up in science what previous years (2019 for example) would have taken for granted. Many started off on the back foot and have had more to learn in the same space of time.
All other three exam years from Sept 2019 have had TAG's or some leniency with grade boundaries. This year 13 who also have the disadvantage of never having sat a public exam in several years..nothing.
They may arguably have been the least affected but there should, for the last time, be some concession.

DS1 took exams in 2019. He had the experience of sitting GCSE's and was then given TAG's for his A levels. Shit though his sixth form experience was I do feel he was compensated.