Prepare for results chaos with GCSEs, says Ofqual adviser Tina Isaacs As someone who has no interest in exam results for me or anyone in my family, I am finding the balls up quite entertaining! Oh, and if this had happened to me then I would have been knackered! I took little interest until exam time! The teachers thought that I was a dunce! They may of been correct!
My lad had predicted AS grades as A, A, B and C. Mocks he had 2 A, 2 B. He got B, D, U and U. School said fuck off, tough luck, nothing to do with them (!!). Ducking teachers are useless at gauging the results. So no surprise to me that examination panel have massively downgraded the predicted grades.
The first I heard about it was the Scottish results actually being 14% higher pass rates than last year - no wonder they needed to down grade the teachers assessments. And now all the lazy students who did feck all are jumping on the band wagon crying, meanwhile in real news Putin is sabre rattling again while a European country is in turmoil due to a fascist dictator - ridiculous...
What’s to do? Go with the teachers’ guesstimate of “What’s the best the candidate could be expected to get on a good day”, and accept a huge increase in percentage of higher grades awarded, or try to rein that back to keep the numbers of awards similar to previous years? There isn’t a universally acceptable answer as if they award all candidates straight A* grades that will be resented by students who thought they could do better than most, and if they don’t they’ll be resented by those who don’t get A* grades awarded. My sympathies to you @bradders and others whose families are similarly affected. Being prepared to resit some or all of the papers and get proper results next year may be for the best if they cannot offer acceptable grades for him this year?
I can see Ofqual bottling it and going with the teachers assessments (very soon.....probably today?). The life lesson will be when wouldbe employers raise the qualification requirements for a 2020 position/job, because they don't believe in the teacher's judgement. Or there's an increase in the numbers dropping out of Uni, because they find they actually can't hack it. Why don't these junior/apprentice angry lefties just sit the exam in October? It's their choice afterall. Ah yes ...they haven't had time to prepare The teachers should hang their heads in shame, playing politics with the young by overrepresenting their own performance.
Any student now, who gets a low grade will complain that their teacher didnt like them, so gave them a low score.
Instead of trying to give students fair results, they are more interested in making sure the schools aren’t trying to make themselves look better by overmarking. There’s no easy answer to this but I think it should be left to the teachers who know the kids and their abilities to mark the exams. @bradders to give your lad U’s is a piss take. That’s what you get when you don’t show up!!
Isn't it in the nature of an 'Exam' that the answer given in the particular time allotted, is either right or wrong? Or in the case of non-binary subjects, displays the necessary skills, or doesn't ? What difference does it make if the Examiner/Marker knows the student? ....Unless you're suggesting they should be able to manipulate/interpret the given answers?
Whatever they do with GCSE and A levels, there is always controversy come results time even in a regular year. Its always claimed they are too hard or too easy by the MMS. This year is little different except the results are also being used as a dig at the government a bit more.
I think that high grades have been given too freely over the last few years and so can understand the need to readdress this issue. What I don't agree with is that state schools have been singled out for this re-balance but that public schools haven't. That's where it's all wrong.
The kids work like hell compared to my generation. Another example of the baby boomers screwing over the young. I hope they are forgiving when we are all getting our meals through straws
It's the rich that get the pleasure and the poor that get the blame, It's the same the whole world over, Ain't it just a blooming shame. In the World (and the Country) that we live in it always give preferential treatment to those with lots of money. Steve R
My lad did his years ago, I was just demonstrating how wrong teachers assessments and even mocks can be. My lad had everything in school from predicted D and got an A to predicted A and got an E. And bear in mind you see the teachers about 6 weeks before exam prep starts...!!
They do homework now, if thats what you mean... A levels mean nothing except get you on the Uni course you want,. If you can get it anyway, who cares. And most can. Sorry, but if you want to be a Dr or whatever and you got assessed at any stage as a C you simply are not in the right ballpark to do it. Bleating about it won't help...nor like the one this morning bleating about having appendicitis affecting her mocks either!! He got 2 A levels and an AS because his school wouldn't allow retakes and he had to lose a year (at end of yr 1 they were saying he should do all 4 A levels and reciting A's and B's!), got into Uni, got a very good degree, a distinction Masters in neuroimaging and is working. He feels his A levels were a waste of 2 years.
How would the students feel if the government said " ok, all sit the exams and see what grades you're really worth "?
They have the option to resit in November but they are on their own or retake the year again so they have that choice
A-levels and GCSEs: U-turn as teacher estimates to be used for exam results https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53810655
