[Misc] Exam results

[beorhthelm]

I think the Government are just feeling the need to stick their oar in to everything these days just to show how pro-active they are, but usually what they do is wilfully ignorant.

My daughter-in-law is a teacher and took the recommendations for A-level grades she had to do enormously seriously and did it all very conscientiously. She is fuming. It looks to me like the Government deliberately trying to undermine the teaching profession.

if as it seems, the exams boards took it upon themselves to grade by past school performance and quotas, hasnt the government done everyone a favour, and supported the teacher's in thier original assessment? shocking i know.

 

[beorhthelm]

I said, a long time ago, that education shouldn't be a political football. The system has changed, changed back and changed again, There should be a cross-party delegation along with the educators to decide on a system, and then leave it alone.

agree, too much potential for political and social engineering for them to leave it alone. and lets be honest the educators wouldnt agree amongst themselves either.

 

[Baker lite]

It was Lolz all round in fact. Always nice to have a good shant and a catch up, at the time I was upset I disappointed the guy,he was a teacher that I had a lot of respect for.


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[maltaseagull]

Yep, one particular teacher told me I’d never make nothing of Myself, see him in the boozer a few years back, we shared a pint and a reminisce. No hard feelings.


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Either he, you or perhaps both of you must have failed at English though.

PS.
If you were never going to" make nothing of yourself "
Then he actually predicted you would make something of yourself.

 

[Beanstalk]

Thanks for clearing that up, having not sought higher education I don’t know about these things, it was a genuine question and I’m grateful for your answer [emoji1303]


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An A* is also not just the top grade. You are required to get at least 90% in each year of your A Levels. If you got 80% in your first year, and 100% in your second, you only get an A grade. Essentially, it is supposed to show consistency over the entire course and is incredibly difficult to get in subjectively marked subjects such as the humanities. It is one of the many reasons why girls outperform boys on the whole but boys get a greater share of A* grades. The uptake in maths and science is much higher amongst boys and artistic subjects are much higher for girls.

In short, A* is an incredibly complicated grade when you start to unpack it and probably shouldn't be used as a barometer. The only thing I'd look at in the current climate is students achieving the grades necessary to meet their preferred university offers - this seems to be a massive problem today with students being downgraded from predicted and expected grades due to Ofqual's algorithm, especially in sixth form colleges where you often have a wider mix of abilities (up to 50% of grades have been downgraded). Readjustment from an A-C will block your path to higher education.

 

[Kneon Light]

My son's grades have all been downgraded from predictions.
No idea how they have worked out the grades (and I'm a teacher!). He was the best in his class at Maths and a cert for an A* yet he was given an A and others A*
Fortunately he got into his first choice uni - but many of his friends haven't despite deserving to. One of his friends was on course for a C all year - was predicted a C - and was awarded a U!
The thing making me angry as both a parent and a teacher is that there seems no consistency or transparency in how grades have been awarded - even within the same schools

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Either he, you or perhaps both of you must have failed at English though.

PS.
If you were never going to" make nothing of yourself "
Then he actually predicted you would make something of yourself.

To be fair, at least there is some substance to [MENTION=35289]Baker lite[/MENTION]’s claim he left school with “**** all”. This is an improvement on his usual posts.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

My son's grades have all been downgraded from predictions.
No idea how they have worked out the grades (and I'm a teacher!). He was the best in his class at Maths and a cert for an A* yet he was given an A and others A*
Fortunately he got into his first choice uni - but many of his friends haven't despite deserving to. One of his friends was on course for a C all year - was predicted a C - and was awarded a U!
The thing making me angry as both a parent and a teacher is that there seems no consistency or transparency in how grades have been awarded - even within the same schools

Poor show from the examination board but I’m pleased he got into his preferred university. What is he going to study?

 

[Kneon Light]

Poor show from the examination board but I’m pleased he got into his preferred university. What is he going to study?

He is studying Maths at Exeter. They normally ask for A*AA but they liked his application and offered him ABC.
Very fortunate as he ended with AABB (despite being on course for A*A*AA for 2 years!)

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

He is studying Maths at Exeter. They normally ask for A*AA but they liked his application and offered him ABC.
Very fortunate as he ended with AABB (despite being on course for A*A*AA for 2 years!)

Wow. Maths at a Russell Group uni. He must be very pleased and you must be very proud.....not to mention relieved. Excellent work.

 

[CliveWalkerWingWizard]

Good luck and all that but for Christ sake I wish the annual whinging would stop, about how unfair results are, the stress, how the cherubs lives will be ruined etc. Every bleeding year. Education is a mess. It always has been and probably always will be. Not least, ironically, because you can keep appealing (moaning) until Tim but dim gets what he, not his teachers, thinks he deserves supported by pushy parent. Deal with it. Life is unfair. And frankly in the current climate with the economic landscape laid waste and people dying in their hundreds of thousands, its fecking nauseating listening to the airwaves full of entitled teenagers bleating on about their poxy A star star cosmo star result in Scientology or whatever. And before they even know! Sake...

Well until Michael Gove decided that everybody’s educational experience should be like his there was a fair system when we had modular A levels,

 

[Tom Bombadil]

Young Petya has got ABB but was predicted AAB which he got in his mocks so we are appealing to the Ministry of Education for the upgrade

 

[Baker lite]

To be fair, at least there is some substance to [MENTION=35289]Baker lite[/MENTION]’s claim he left school with “**** all”. This is an improvement on his usual posts.

I’m glad I’m improving [emoji1303]

 

[Norman Potting]

Miss P. got what she needed to study what she wanted at the Uni. she wanted.

Mrs. P. (teacher, juniors) is well stressed that daughter got downgraded by "the Government" from an A to a B in one subject so is going to appeal. I suspect that the rest of us will be trying not to do a "...is this a bothered face..." on the matter. Thoughts to all of you in a similar situation.

In 1977 I got a postcard telling me that I had achieved a Maths "A" level entitling me to an extra £10 or so a month from the "Bank job" - Lloyds, not Italian, that had been offered to me a year previous and held open for me after a 10' interview (ticking off my "O" level certificates against my application form and discussing the weather mainly). Things were different in those days.

 

[dolphins]

My twin boys should get their BTEC results on Thursday, and depends on what they get to determine if and which university they each get into.

My mum (their grandma) died this morning so keeping it from them until after the results to ensure less for them to think about - sure they are worried enough (albeit quietly keeping it to themselves) without knowing about that.

My sons got the required BTEC grades to get to their first choice of university which was a relief with everything that's going on here at the moment.

Many thanks to everyone who gave their good wishes to us in clan Dolphins about my late mum at this difficult time. Your thoughts and support are most appreciated...

 

[Kneon Light]

Wow. Maths at a Russell Group uni. He must be very pleased and you must be very proud.....not to mention relieved. Excellent work.

Thanks - yes, very proud.

 

[Lower West Stander]

I've not read the whole thread, but there seems to be an inherent assumption (at least in the press) that everyone deserves to get good grades and it isn't fair if you don't. If grades are better than predicted then hey that's fantastic but no one is going to moan about that.

Sounds to me like everyone who didn't get to where they wanted to go has a free lunch to have a bloody good moan because it isn't fair. There is no suggestion at all that any of these students actually didn't do as well as they wanted to and therefore don't deserve to go to their 1st choice uni. Three years ago my daughter's English A Level paper was mismarked (her grade went from C to A* on appeal) and it nearly screwed up her university education - now that's not fair.

What I do know is that its a damn sight easier to get into university now than it was when I was doing my A Levels in the mid 80s.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

My sons got the required BTEC grades to get to their first choice of university which was a relief with everything that's going on here at the moment.

Many thanks to everyone who gave their good wishes to us in clan Dolphins about my late mum at this difficult time. Your thoughts and support are most appreciated...

Congratulations to them.

 

[Chicken Run]

I've not read the whole thread, but there seems to be an inherent assumption (at least in the press) that everyone deserves to get good grades and it isn't fair if you don't. If grades are better than predicted then hey that's fantastic but no one is going to moan about that.

Sounds to me like everyone who didn't get to where they wanted to go has a free lunch to have a bloody good moan because it isn't fair. There is no suggestion at all that any of these students actually didn't do as well as they wanted to and therefore don't deserve to go to their 1st choice uni. Three years ago my daughter's English A Level paper was mismarked (her grade went from C to A* on appeal) and it nearly screwed up her university education - now that's not fair.

What I do know is that its a damn sight easier to get into university now than it was when I was doing my A Levels in the mid 80s.

Listening to 5 live there seems to be an incredible amount of pupils who would have “pulled it out the bag” if they had sat the exams!!

I could have sworn the old arguments use to be that students freeze on exam day!!

 

[sydney]

http://youtu.be/OhBxfFw8720