Year 9 support Thread

[berks_mum]

I have more information about the levels now. In case anybody finds it useful ...

8-9 ---> A*
7-8 ---> A
5-6 ---> B
4 ---> C
3. ---> D
2-3 --->E
1-2 ---> F
then G and U.

The percentage will vary from test to test as well.

Thanks Tinkers. I thought it was simply mapped to the old levels. I haven't seen g55's link yet.

[berks_mum]

Can't be a GCSE grade 7 in year 9? If so that's a fab English score if she marked it as an exam board marker would. The proportion that get 7,8 and 9 in year 11 is low. Your school should explain its grading system on reports etc. Ours does - it has its own which don't relate to GCSE 1 to 9 or the old NC levels.

Exactly my point, she can't be grade 7 in year 9. Hence I wanted to know from English teachers about how they measure progress. But it can vary from school to school, right? Our school does give some grading and how it maps/projects to new GCSE levels but there is no 7 used in that. No worries I will clarify with the school some other day.

Improvement in tests? Best thing that worked here for school tests where child had not done as well as one might have expected was to ask the school for the question paper and child did it again at home. They then had the ability to see whether they had just got in a flap in the school test or if there were certain knowledge or skill areas they needed to do a little bit more practice on. It also helped them realise if there was any way they could work differently before the next test. Sometimes it 's a timing issue?

I like you suggestion of redoing the paper at home. You may be right on time organisation as well. Could it also be a question of exam technique?

I find they sometimes have tests when they're desperately tired, not quite well etc etc. Teacher can't be expected to know this.

Not sure that grade boundaries at GCSE ever were as you describe.

I may have got grade boundaries completely wrong. Ti may have been based on hearsay.

Missing on easy questions --- which subjects do you mean? Can relate to that. It's quite natural either to think it's too obvious to say or that the question can't be that easy so one must have misunderstood it --- or just to dream one's way through the boring easy question. It's a good weak point to have ... but I guess the top grades at GCSE do depend on high marks across all questions. Mine are the same in this respect so I do sympathise. Practice is the answer ... as with everything ... on easy questions!

I got that for a couple of subjects. Can't remember exactly, right now, but you are right it may be a question of too obvious, can't be that easy, practice or a dreamy mind. Probably I need to go to the root of this. She doesn't bring any papers home which annoys me.

Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men perhaps?[/quote]
Don't know I am afraid. Will ask DD.

[berks_mum]

How do the new levels relate to raw mark? My understanding of older levels was an A* was over 90%, A over 80% , B over 70% ... ? Does it vary by subject?

No - it didn't work like that. Raw marks were converted to UMS and then the UMS translated to grades.

You can find the grade boundaries on exam board websites - they were quite low last year but that may be a one-off. There were rules on the % of 7+ and 4+ as they had to match the previous % of grade A/A* and C+.

The new grade equivalents are not as you posted, see here:
https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/q ... g-9-1.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As I said, I may have got this completely wrong. Thank you for the link. Will go through the link.

[berks_mum]

I have more information about the levels now. In case anybody finds it useful ...

8-9 ---> A*
7-8 ---> A
5-6 ---> B
4 ---> C
3. ---> D
2-3 --->E
1-2 ---> F
then G and U.

Sorry please discard this one. I misund ... urn false;
thanks g55.

[berks_mum]

I have more information about the levels now. In case anybody finds it useful ...

8-9 ---> A*
7-8 ---> A
5-6 ---> B
4 ---> C
3. ---> D
2-3 --->E
1-2 ---> F
then G and U.

Our school relates the GCSE scores slightly differently with 9 being "equivalent" to an A**, 8 being an A* and 7 being and A. Which sort of makes more sense as the point about a 9 was that it was the very highest A* so "above" an A*. I like this version - I don't like the government one which is a bit wooly around some of the grades - it makes no sense to have two numbers 8/9 representing one grade A* and two numbers 5/6 representing a B. Pick one and stick with it, I say....!!

I would find it easy to understand that way.

[berks_mum]

G55, AQA website says UMS is not used for the new(linear) GCSE.
http://www.aqa.org.uk/exams-administrat ... es-and-ums

Linear qualifications don’t use uniform marks

Uniform marks won’t be used for the new GCSE, AS and A-level specifications for first teaching from September 2015. This means you won’t need to convert your marks to the uniform mark scale (UMS). In 2017, this applies to the following qualifications:

GCSE English Language
GCSE English Literature
GCSE Maths.
Linear qualifications are assessed at the end of the course, so all students take the exam at the same time. This means that, unlike in modular qualifications, there’s no need to combine marks from different series, so we don’t need to use the UMS for linear exams.

As the new qualifications are being introduced gradually, we'll be offering unitised and linear qualifications at the same time for an interim period. For details of which GCSEs, AS and A-levels are changing and when, see the timelines on our Changes to GCSEs, AS and A-levels page.

http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/admin/resul ... -QUALS.PDF

New linear qualifications
(AS, A-level and GCSE)
A guide to notional component grade boundaries
In modular qualifications, components can be taken at different times during the course, and grade boundaries are set for each component separately. In linear qualifications, students are given a single overall grade for the subject. However, we are able to provide ‘notional grade boundaries’ for individual components in linear qualifications, for illustrative purposes only.
Although there are no official grades for individual components in linear qualifications, it can be useful for students and teachers to see how the overall subject grade was achieved. The grade boundaries given for each component are known as ‘notional grade boundaries’, as they are for illustrative purposes only.
The notional component boundaries do not always add up to the subject grade boundaries. The example below explains why this might happen.
Sample subject and notional component grade boundaries in a linear AS qualification
In this example, the subject boundary mark for a grade B is 70 (out of 100). The notional component boundary marks for a grade B are 38 out of 50 on Paper 1, and 31 out of 50 on Paper 2. These add up to 69, not 70. Why is this? The reason is that there are rules that all awarding bodies must follow for setting the subject boundary marks for B, C and D, based on the A and E subject boundaries. Grades A and E are known as ‘judgemental’ grades, and the awarding committee for each subject sets these by looking at students’ work. The B, C and D boundaries are then set arithmetically so that they fall as evenly as possible between A and E. In this example, there are 40 marks between the subject boundary for grade A (80), and the subject boundary for grade E (40). The B, C and D boundaries are set at 10 mark intervals, because 40 ÷ 4 = 10. If the difference between the A and the E boundaries is not exactly divisible by four, the remainder of the marks are allocated to each of the intervals between A and B, B and C, and C and D – in that order.

Sorry I can't get the table in the quotes. Will play with the formatting later.

[Guest55]

Yes I know - UMS were the old modular way of allocating grades. As I said raw marks were converted to UMS then to grades.

What I linked to explains the new process.

[berks_mum]

Yes I know - UMS were the old modular way of allocating grades. As I said raw marks were converted to UMS then to grades.

What I linked to explains the new process.

Thanks. I shall try to understand the new process.

[berks_mum]

If I got this right, grade boundaries are set by the cohort performance of the given year. Hence raw marks can change from year to year.
So, how are the new grade 9,8 and 7 boundaries set?

[Guest55]

No - read the links. There was a promise that the proportion of 7+ and 4+ would be comparable to the old modular proportions. I would not worry about it now there are a couple of years to go and the new system will be 'bedded in; by then.

The important thing now is to let your child choose the options they want and download the specifications.