Skinners' Grammar - Can this be right?

[Guest55]

A level 9 will win over an A* - universities look at the grades.

ALL schools were told not to early enter - universities won't like it.

[Choco]

You think this, but we will see as the offers come in.
The top independents have largely sat their candidates as Skinners did. Skinners will have known this as they made their choices. They will be putting lots in for Oxbridge and other RG Unis with their A* results with full confidence that they will get the offers based on these.
This year the Unis will have to accept both systems - we are in a transition year. It is similar to the issue of whether kids have AS levels on their UCAS or not - schools are doing different things. Unis have to cope with this and make offers based on what students have on their forms and the systems their schools have used. Re GCSEs this will only happen this year.
By the next time round, Skinners will be in a very strong position to get the current cohort to Grades 8 and 9 - they will have the experience of the new system that they simply didn't have last time round.

Let's see if any of those Skinners A* mathematicians who also have a great UCAS statement, great range of GCSEs at top grades and great A Level predictions lose out and don't get their offers, because the offersare given to other candidates who are equal in all respects apart from having a 9 instead of a GCSE A*. I really do nt think we will see this.

[loopylala]

In the end, Unis are highly unlikely to say 'no' on the basis of a student having an A*.

The A* grade may look odd on the Uni application given that 15 DCs in the same year group at that school gained L9 maths. The question is whether those who gained the L9 were the stronger or weaker candidates.

[Guest55]

Choco - I admire your confidence but has someone that worked in school and supported UCAS applications for years the school has taken a massive risk.

They have gone against Govenrment and university recommendations - I bet students and parents were not told about this 'risk' either.

[Choco]

Well I think Skinners can take confidence from the fact that they have done exactly what many top independent schools have done.

If their candidates lose out because of it, so will an awful lot of top independent school candidates too. Perhaps knowing that they did what very many other schools were also doing gave them the confidence to do it and I suspect they just didn't see it as a risk in the way that you do. They weighed up all the factors and simply decided that what they chose to do was the best way to advantage their children, rather than a risky strategy which might disadvantage them.

Anyway, we can wait to see - if all those top independents and Grammars who did what Skinners did suddenly find their candidates don't get the uni offers, I'm sure we will hear about it before too long.

[mitasol]

Russell Group University - Informed Choices A Russell Group guide
to making decisions
https://www.russellgroup.ac.uk/media/52 ... -print.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Some schools enter pupils early for GCSE, AS-level and A-level. You
should be aware that some universities or their individual subject
departments (for example Medicine) may want to see that you have
taken a number of advanced level qualifications all at the same time;
for example, they may want to see three A-levels taken in Year 13. This
can be because they want to know that you can comfortably manage a
workload of this size in your advanced level studies. Admissions policies
may therefore differ in relation to A-levels taken early, and whether these
are included in offers made or not.

[Guest55]

Well I think Skinners can take confidence from the fact that they have done exactly what many top independent schools have done.

Which top Private schools entered students for Maths in Year 10 this year?

[salsa]

Choco - I admire your confidence but has someone that worked in school and supported UCAS applications for years the school has taken a massive risk.

They have gone against Govenrment and university recommendations - I bet students and parents were not told about this 'risk' either.

I wonder why the did it? Was this risk taken because they thought it would benefit the school or the students, do you think?
As a parent I would think that, provided they would achieve an A*, that they would be getting one exam out of the way? Isn't that good for the child?
I guess you are saying that universities would like to see what you got when you took them altogether, as there would have been other factors, such as the sheer tiredness of taking all the exams together.
If universities take a dim view of early examinations, why are they allowed? It's very confusing for parents, or at least it is for me.
My boys' school are going to start with early Japanese and Mandarin exams. They'll asses those who are doing very well. I don't know how my son will do as it's early days, but if given a choice, I really don't know what to do!

Salsa

[Guest55]

Read the link mitasol posted - parents have to give permission for early entry.

[Choco]

That Informed Choices document is about early A Levels, not early GCSEs. It is fair enough for Unis to want to know students can cope with a full curriculum, rather than taking the exams gradually over many years, because they cannot cope with all the subjects at once.

Students taking GCSE maths early to get A* never did this because they were the students who couldn't cope with 9,10 or 11 in one go. They were the able who sat early.