In a class of 30 doing GCSE Art, how many would you expect to get 7,8 or 9?

[RollsBapsCobs]

My daughter did Art for GCSEs. She did the exam yesterday and today and the teacher suggested she will get a grade 6.
My daughter (not the sort to brag) believes she is one of the best in the class of 30 at Art and works really hard at it.
It it sounds like nobody will get more than a grade 6.
Does that seem unusual to you?

I guess I'm just wondering if my daughter's teacher is a particularly hard marker or maybe Art is quite difficult at GCSE level.
My daughter wants to do it for A level but I'm not sure it's wise choice if she gets a 6 at GCSE.
(I do understand a sample of students work is checked by someone external.)

Dd got a 9 and an A* at A level. She did far, far more work for her GCSE than for her her A-level (different school) - in her case the excellent teachers at A level knew precisely how to guide her to get the marks, whereas her GCSE teacher was all about quantity and covering every possible angle.

Iirc she was one of 5 or so 9s in her GCSE cohort.

My son got a 9 and is also doing art for A-level now and predicted an A. To be honest, I think he’s good but not exceptionally knockout talented, if that makes sense! However he is disciplined about sketchbook work, good at writing about art and is at a leading grammar with a great art dept…so that’s all very helpful. I think the majority of his gcse class got 7-9s but it is a high achieving school overall.

@cantkeepawayforever Teaching makes such a difference though. Knowing what’s needed. That’s why DD pulled her A levels grades up from GCSE. Many didn’t stay at her old school for art. At 11 we hadn’t realised art wasn’t great.

This has been very interesting to read. My DC is a naturally strong artist but struggles with writing and critical thinking. Sounds like art would not be a good idea…

@Stopsnowing It’s just how you get top grades. It’s not easy and some DC can actually whack out work fairly quickly. The best students take a more considered approach and I don’t think any GCSEs are 100% practical.

@Stopsnowing You don't actually have to write much for art. Some schools go overboard. Have a look at the assessment criteria for the exam board.

Yes. It’s not volume. It’s quality.

Good luck to all the artists today and tomorrow!

Nationally it would be around 21% - you can look up the stats. Obviously schools, teacher and cohort dependent, but that gives you a guide.

Apologies for being late to the post. My DD is currently in year 10 doing GCSE art….not quite sure why other than ‘I really enjoy it’ when it’s likely not going to help her future career plans. She is coming home with homework all the time and she’s spending hours upon hours every weekend. When she takes the work back in on a Monday her art teacher grades it like a GCSE her latest one being marked as a 9. How likely are these ‘grades’ her teacher marks likely to be once the exam comes around as it obviously won’t be her teacher marking it? Is she going to end up with false hope from her teacher ‘grading’ it? She is that far in front she had nothing to do in lesson yesterday so was asked to help a struggling student out. How this helps them I’m not quite sure as my DD won’t be able to help them during the exam.

It will be her teacher marking it so very likely.

Thankyou for that I was thinking it would be an external exam marker not her teacher but that fills me with hope she will do well then.

They get internally and then externally moderated.

First, two teachers (either school Art teacher + another Art teacher or school Art Teacher + somebody from another school) look to see whether each set of work meets the criteria for a grade, adjusting where it's felt they need to be. Those marks then get sent off to the board.

At a later date, an external moderator visits and will check a selection of students' work to see whether they are fairly marked in accordance with the scheme. Marks can go up or down - if enough are out of kilter, the entire cohort's marks will be automatically adjusted either up or down, but if they match, the other marks as given by the internal teacher+internal moderator stand without being checked.

The external mod will take a selection from high, middle and lower marks to make sure marking is fair throughout. There's no way of influencing whose is selected, so this makes it as fair as possible without the external mod looking at every single kid's work.

As the consequence of being over generous can be everybody getting marked down, art teachers are very careful to be fair.

In 1996, I did GCSE art and was considered gifted at a young age of 4. I got a B. At Art A Level my HoD took my portfolio to a meeting at st Martin's college of Art and they were willing to give me an unconditional place for Fine Art. I don't think I ever understood what happened, but in my eyes the GCSE B was an A 😁

Thanks so much for that info that’s really handy to know so I appreciate it. App13 congrats it sounds like you are a brilliant artist to receive that offer! X

What did your DD get @RollsBapsCobs ?

At my Dd's school, they won't assess them with a 9 in Y10, the most they can get is an 8+. DD is pretty consistently getting 7s & 8s so far but agree it is far more homework than any of her other subjects. At least she seems to enjoy it.

My DD got a disappointing to her 6, she is a very competent artist if you're talking realistic paintings/ line drawings but couldn't get to grips with the criteria. Her work was randomly selected to assess for moderation and put up to a 7.

Yes, this is what happened to DD as one of the selected students, I wonder if everyone got put up a grade then?

She actually got an 8 in the exam.