New GCSEs: Only two pupils in England will get all top marks
Discussion
fblm said:
Ok so the concern is not so much the change itself but that grades should not be compared between years. That's sensible but IME admissions tutors take account of which exam boards people do so factoring in a step change in GCSE difficulty by year should be even easier,no?
Interesting, that is the first that I've heard that the admissions tutors apply weighting to the exam board used for the exams, it doesn't seem to carry weight with the (better) schools' choice of exam boards. Are you saying that an under grad course that requires an A in say Maths at GCSE would place greater weight on one exam board even if the applicant had a B? I hope it will do for this year and the coming years butI can't say I see that happening.I have a number of complaints and concerns around the new exams, not just the difference in grades caused by tougher grade boundaries, it is that the exams have changed in question style, the depth of topics covered and the shift to learning by rote as a central plank. This would have been fine if this had been communicated earlier to the schools but the first representative set of mock papers was released in January. There really has been a pathetic amount of communication from the exam boards on what the exams would look like, the marking schemes and the grade boundaries.
For the official maths paper my kids school saw a big chunk of solid B grade students drop from ~50% of the marks on last year's paper to ~10% due to a combination of harder questions and a different question style. Normally below a 5 on the new scheme would trigger a resit but for this year only they have lowered the resit boundary to a 4 as they know everybody will be short of the expected level. As these B grade students seem to be dropping even lower they have the prospect of resets and potentially missing out on sixth form/college/apprenticeship places. If that isn't disadvantaging them I do not know what is.
Give it a few years and when everybody has forgotten that a 4 was considered a pass for this year this year will be affected by that as well as everybody will be looking for a 5 or a C.
As I said, I'm not against changing the GCSEs, something had to be done, but gradual change would have been far more sensible rather than a rapid, poorly communicated, under funded, knee jerk change.
tankplanker said:
nteresting, that is the first that I've heard that the admissions tutors apply weighting to the exam board used for the exams, it doesn't seem to carry weight with the (better) schools' choice of exam boards. Are you saying that an under grad course that requires an A in say Maths at GCSE would place greater weight on one exam board even if the applicant had a B? I hope it will do for this year and the coming years butI can't say I see that happening.
I have a number of complaints and concerns around the new exams, not just the difference in grades caused by tougher grade boundaries, it is that the exams have changed in question style, the depth of topics covered and the shift to learning by rote as a central plank. This would have been fine if this had been communicated earlier to the schools but the first representative set of mock papers was released in January. There really has been a pathetic amount of communication from the exam boards on what the exams would look like, the marking schemes and the grade boundaries.
[b]For the official maths paper my kids school saw a big chunk of solid B grade students drop from ~50% of the marks on last year's paper to ~10% due to a combination of harder questions and a different question style['b]. Normally below a 5 on the new scheme would trigger a resit but for this year only they have lowered the resit boundary to a 4 as they know everybody will be short of the expected level. As these B grade students seem to be dropping even lower they have the prospect of resets and potentially missing out on sixth form/college/apprenticeship places. If that isn't disadvantaging them I do not know what is.
Give it a few years and when everybody has forgotten that a 4 was considered a pass for this year this year will be affected by that as well as everybody will be looking for a 5 or a C.
As I said, I'm not against changing the GCSEs, something had to be done, but gradual change would have been far more sensible rather than a rapid, poorly communicated, under funded, knee jerk change.
Which suggests they were never genuine 'B' students in the first place!I have a number of complaints and concerns around the new exams, not just the difference in grades caused by tougher grade boundaries, it is that the exams have changed in question style, the depth of topics covered and the shift to learning by rote as a central plank. This would have been fine if this had been communicated earlier to the schools but the first representative set of mock papers was released in January. There really has been a pathetic amount of communication from the exam boards on what the exams would look like, the marking schemes and the grade boundaries.
[b]For the official maths paper my kids school saw a big chunk of solid B grade students drop from ~50% of the marks on last year's paper to ~10% due to a combination of harder questions and a different question style['b]. Normally below a 5 on the new scheme would trigger a resit but for this year only they have lowered the resit boundary to a 4 as they know everybody will be short of the expected level. As these B grade students seem to be dropping even lower they have the prospect of resets and potentially missing out on sixth form/college/apprenticeship places. If that isn't disadvantaging them I do not know what is.
Give it a few years and when everybody has forgotten that a 4 was considered a pass for this year this year will be affected by that as well as everybody will be looking for a 5 or a C.
As I said, I'm not against changing the GCSEs, something had to be done, but gradual change would have been far more sensible rather than a rapid, poorly communicated, under funded, knee jerk change.
Convincing them they have more aptitude for the subject than they actually do is certainly disadvantaging them when they hit the real world.
sidicks said:
Which suggests they were never genuine 'B' students in the first place!
Convincing them they have more aptitude for the subject than they actually do is certainly disadvantaging them when they hit the real world.
Not really as the subsequent year will almost certainly do better as a whole than the current year as the subsequent year will be taught how to answer the questions better and will get much higher marks because of it. It is grade reduction through obscurification.Convincing them they have more aptitude for the subject than they actually do is certainly disadvantaging them when they hit the real world.
Exam technique plays a large part in even the brightest students results.
tankplanker said:
ot really as the subsequent year will almost certainly do better as a whole than the current year as the subsequent year will be taught how to answer the questions better and will get much higher marks because of it. It is grade reduction through obscurification.
Exam technique plays a large part in even the brightest students results.
Being able to apply techniques to different situations is what identifies the top students (i.e. those that should get the top grades). Exam technique plays a large part in even the brightest students results.
Being taught how to answer the question without really understanding what you are doing is how we get to the situation where plenty of people have lots of high grades but no real understanding and who are unprepared for the next step in their education.
Hot off the press and into my inbox
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...
Edited by Speed 3 on Wednesday 29th March 10:04
sidicks said:
Being able to apply techniques to different situations is what identifies the top students (i.e. those that should get the top grades).
Being taught how to answer the question without really understanding what you are doing is how we get to the situation where plenty of people have lots of high grades but no real understanding and who are unprepared for the next step in their education.
I don't disagree with any of that, other than both the previous GCSEs and the new GCSEs do none of that. If wishes were kisses we'd rip out the GCSEs and A Levels and replace with a single set of qualifications started at 14 and awarded at 18 that offer vocational and academic pathways.Being taught how to answer the question without really understanding what you are doing is how we get to the situation where plenty of people have lots of high grades but no real understanding and who are unprepared for the next step in their education.
The fact that Ofqual says 0 students will get 9s across English, English Lit, Maths, when about 120000 students will sit those three exams, and the chief adviser is estimating 2 students will, should be a big red flag for this. I find it impossible to believe that out of 120000 students that at best 2 of them are bright enough to pass to grade 9 level a fair test. From what I've seen coaching on the new exam style will be worth at least a grade for the majority of ability levels.
Speed 3 said:
Hot off the press and into my inbox
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...
Interesting and welcome change to push grade 4 as the new C for the next few years rather than just this year as it was only last week.https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...
Edited by Speed 3 on Wednesday 29th March 10:04
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