Y11 2023/24 thread 5 - results!

[Techno56]

New thread as no 4 is nearly full

But it is disingenuous.

A prospective parent reading that would not have thought the school considered Ds, Es and Fs as passes.

My DS did AQA

exactly, I think it is wrong. Perhaps they did have 91% pass rate but over 3% of that was DS and his 2 friends, DS is top or 2nd set for everything (just struggles with exams due to his processing disorder) so I find it hard to believe that they were the only ones.

Also AQA and a lots of disappointed students expecting 8/9s but got 5s.

Particularly odd as my DD got a 5 in Lang and not expected at all, we were hoping to scrape a 4 and yet her friends who are really good at English and planning to study at A-level got the same grade.

There are so many dropping several grades for AQA Eng, it feels so wrong. Since 2022 exams the kids have had a pretty raw deal with exams/grading. Its been pretty stressful for them.

@ASongbirdAndAnOldHat it absolutely makes no sense, I don't really understand such huge devastation over getting an 8 instead of a 9 at GCSE but to be predicted 8/9 and get a 5 is a huge shock and can make a big difference with A Levels. I hope there is some reviewing going to happen for them.

I understand what you're saying but grades 1-3 are passes. For some students, they're bloody good grades too.

Also AQA .

Update : daughter has managed to enroll in a level 3 course at college. under the provision that she is assessed after a term to check she’s keeping up and does an English resit (she passed one English and close to the second one so shouldn’t be too bad) in November. - if she’s struggling she will have to go to level 2.

massive relief as we thought she was going to have to do a level two year . She hasn’t got onto the t level she wanted , but she can get to the same place at the same time with what she’s enrolled on , and she’s genuinely excited.

skated in by the skin of her teeth has the little darling!

@MrsHamlet for my DS 3s and above are fine and we weren't expecting as many above that originally (he was predicted 4s and above by Y11 though) however if you read a private school had 91% pass rate you would probably assume that meant 4 and above. Obviously they do publish more detailed info so you would look but it does feel misleading as I know they'll plaster it on massive billboards for their advertising.

On one hand they do have 25% of the kids with dyslexia/similar issues there plus a separate learning support unit for more severe difficulties so it is good to get that sort of % passes whatever they are but on the other I also have some real issues with the school and the way my DS was treated so maybe I am being a bit bitter about it.

A pass is a 4

DD is very good at English Lang and in all her mocks got virtually full marks. She got a 9 right on the grade boundary, which was very odd for her (happy with it obvs). But it didn’t really make a lot of sense so interesting to read this thread .

Agree, so if a school said 100% pass the vast majority of people would expect a 4/C and above.

They would not expect the school to include 1,2 or 3's

(Although I appreciate these allow access to level 1/2 course at college, there would be the expectation of resitting maths and English)

A pass is anything between 1 and 9.
4 is a "standard pass"
5 is a strong pass
U is a fail

The student in my class who got a 3 and a 2 passed. He and I were delighted because he'd overcome a lot to get those.

I agree and I am not disrespectful of those grades and am aware of the doors that these grades would open to students (my DD wasn't expecting to get the grades she did so we were looking at what to do with these grades)

I just think that as an advertising message it is disingenuous of a school to write it

I just think that as an advertising message it is disingenuous of a school to write it

I totally agree.

My DD got a level 2 distinction in health and social care which is what she wants to study at college. She only got a 3 in maths so she's got to do an extended level 2 course along side the maths re-sit instead of a level 3 course! The college said it will be very repetitive for her but won't let her do the level 3 until she gets a 4 in maths 🙃 not the end of the world but frustrating!

Same here. AQA. Predicted 9. Got 6.

AQA here too. DD got a 5 but was getting 7 or 8 in her English language mocks of which they did four over the past year so a decent sample. No idea what happened and she's upset. It has sadly overshadowed her other grades - five subjects at an 8 and four subjects at a 7 - so the English language is an outlier.

Hi all,

My daughter is 1 mark away from a grade 6 in English Language and a grade 7 in sociology. Do you think it’s worth getting them checked? Haven’t been through this before so no idea how likely it is that they’ll find an extra mark!

thank you!

AQA here too. Predicted 9s, got 7s.

They're not looking for marks; they're looking to see if the original mark was reasonable.

My advice is to ask for the scripts, and ask someone in the centre to advise you as to whether it looks likely to move.

My child has met the entry requirements for their next planned steps. They have done really well as this was by no means certain!

Amongst the many stellar grades mentioned on this thread just a reminder that the average GCSE grade awarded in 2024 was 4.80 (Education Policy Institute Analysis: GCSE Results Day 2024).

Achievements look different depending on your circumstances.

Would it make any difference to what they do next?

So true. DS was never a 7/8/9 student, but he worked really hard, and we are proud of him for that.