Final Options Chosen

[Guest55]

GCSE reforms: What's happening? (copied from http://www.edexcel.com/quals/gcse/gcse- ... fault.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)

Ofqual has confirmed the following changes to all GCSEs in England:

• All GCSE assessment will be linear in structure, so that examinations are taken at the end of the course. There will no longer be an opportunity to resit units.

• Examinations will only be available in the summer series, except for retake opportunities for English, English Language and Mathematics.

• Additional marks will be awarded for spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPaG) for GCSEs in English Literature, Geography, History and Religious Studies.

What does this mean for you and your students?

1. A reduction in the number of GCSE examination series

For awards made from summer 2014 onwards:

candidates will have to take all GCSE assessments at the end of the course

the GCSE examination series will be restricted to May/June, except for English, English Language and Mathematics, which will offer retake opportunities in November.


2. Additional marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPaG)

• Additional marks for SPaG will be awarded for GCSEs in English Literature, Geography, History and Religious Studies. The changes affect written and externally assessed units available from January 2013.

• Marks will be allocated to individual questions and students will be informed which questions include marks for SPaG.


3. No change to controlled assessment

• There are no proposed changes to controlled assessment content.

• Schools may continue to schedule controlled assessments at their discretion, as far as this is permitted by the specification. However, controlled assessments can only be submitted at the end of the course.

• Controlled assessment unit results may be carried forward if a student wishes to retake the whole qualification.

Please note that you will need to make sure that you are using the correct task for the end-of-course submission date.

[Snowdrops]

My dd is opting for a timetable heavy with humanities (history, RE, and classical civilisations). I note extra marks being given for spelling and punctuation, yay!! My dd excels at this but, apart from that, it's about time it became important again. But why only award extra marks for certain parts? surely the content should be spelt and punctuated properly throughout?

[SSM]

A few years ago I would have agreed with you snowdrops, but being a mother of a dyslexic it makes you realise that ther is more to education than SPaG. If he was to be marked on his spelling as well then I Really feel he would end up leaving school within minimum GCSEs as opposed to the 11odd A*s to B's he is predicted to get.

[Looking for help]

I agree - I know a poor little soul who is really good at Science - has taken one fo the modules this year and lost 6 marks due to poor English - the difference between an A and a B grade. I think he will probably do really badly in English - but fair enough. Why should he be penalised in every exam he takes ? Guest 55 - Science isn't on your list for SPaG ?

[Fran17]

I do think it is a shame too. There are lots of very intelligent people who have difficulty spelling words correctly, my DH and eldest DS being two of them. Of course, I can understand them being penalised in their English GCSEs but not in other subjects. Thank goodness DS1 is doing his A levels in June!

[Guest55]

LFH - these are the changes - Maths and Science have already changed.

Science does penalise poor spelling and Maths gives marks for QWC - quality of written communication.

[Looking for help]

LFH - these are the changes - Maths and Science have already changed.

Science does penalise poor spelling and Maths gives marks for QWC - quality of written communication.

[suzanne]

Extra time can be awarded for children who are dyslexic - upto 25% extra I understand - not sure if that will help with spellings & grammar, but may help to get extra marks with more time generally.

Going back to my daughter - humanities is what she really likes. She likes writing essays and is good at it. She is not interested in doing ICT or AS computing. She is not keen on drama or DT. The one subject she would like to give up is maths - but that is not possible yet! She also happens to be at a Maths specialist school

[Looking for help]

Extra time can be awarded for children who are dyslexic - upto 25% extra I understand - not sure if that will help with spellings & grammar, but may help to get extra marks with more time generally.

The lad I know is just not good at English - no special needs, whatsoever, struggled to be level 4 at y6.

Suzanne - I would go with what your daughter's happy with. I have a daughter who would also have loved to give up Maths

I'm sure your daughter will be happy doing the subjects she likes - that in my view is the most important thing. Good luck

[Snowdrops]

I can understand what you're saying wrt dc's who have problems with spelling, I have a severely mentally handicapped daughter myself, so can appreciate the difficulties.

However, that being said, I do think it's important to get spellings right and be awarded marks for it. It would be like doing a maths exam, working it out and getting it wrong, but still getting awarded a mark for it. Surely someone who's good at maths would feel it's to their advantage to get extra marks for actually getting the answer right? - OK, I may have worded this poorly, but I'm sure you can understand the intention?

We have also said there's no point in dd doing art/music/pe/ technology based subjects as this is just not what she's interested in/good at. - oh, and maths is her worst subject too (suazanne, are we sharing a dd? )