GCSE 2020

Discussion and advice on GCSEs

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doodles
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Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:19 pm

Re: GCSE 2020

Post by doodles »

2girlsdad you may get more information about local colleges if you post on the genersl Herts section of the forum rather than this specific gcse thread.
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad !
2GirlsDad
Posts: 89
Joined: Sat Dec 17, 2011 9:33 pm
Location: Herts

Re: GCSE 2020

Post by 2GirlsDad »

doodles wrote:2girlsdad you may get more information about local colleges if you post on the genersl Herts section of the forum rather than this specific gcse thread.
Thanks doodles, just did that, we will need to cast the net wider and maybe supplement with tutoring.
test1
Posts: 347
Joined: Sun Sep 21, 2014 1:17 am

Re: GCSE 2020

Post by test1 »

Senior Tory warns of '50:50' chance school exams could be scrapped next summer
School exams could be scrapped next summer, a senior Tory MP has said.

Robert Halfon, chair of the Commons Education Committee, said there was only a "50:50" chance that GCSE and A-Levels would go ahead as normal next year.

He urged the under-fire exams regulator Ofqual to decide by October whether to press ahead with exams or to award grades based on teacher assessments.
2GirlsDad
Posts: 89
Joined: Sat Dec 17, 2011 9:33 pm
Location: Herts

Re: GCSE 2020

Post by 2GirlsDad »

test1 wrote:Senior Tory warns of '50:50' chance school exams could be scrapped next summer
School exams could be scrapped next summer, a senior Tory MP has said.

Robert Halfon, chair of the Commons Education Committee, said there was only a "50:50" chance that GCSE and A-Levels would go ahead as normal next year.

He urged the under-fire exams regulator Ofqual to decide by October whether to press ahead with exams or to award grades based on teacher assessments.
Is this them stepping up to the PM call for a 'moral duty' towards children and their education?
Tolstoy
Posts: 2755
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:25 pm

Re: GCSE 2020

Post by Tolstoy »

ToadMum wrote:
Tolstoy wrote:The problem with using mocks is some children with tutors will have already practiced the same papers. In my DSs school one child had a tutor this year and suddenly scored a blinder in all his science mocks. The school offered all the children a second opportunity to sit mocks during lockdown. This child declined. Fortunately his results weren’t based on his unusual mock scores but on his performance throughout the courses.

My own son scored a 9 in his French mock, whilst I think the 7 he got was too low because he has dyslexia there was no guarantee he would have performed to that standard in a the actual exam. He probably should have been given an 8 but as we know there were winners and losers and we have to resign ourselves to that.

We are lucky as this son is going down a vocational route. Next years won’t so it will be harder to accept any unfairness. Suspect I’ll have to work on preparing myself as the present government appear to lack that skill.

So, out of curiosity, did the school do what schools are expected to do, i.e. use the previous summer's papers, theoretically unseen, whilst they were still in the 'restricted access' area of the relevant exam board's website?

And was the child's science tutor also a teacher somewhere and therefore able to access the previous year's papers for the board(s) with which s/he was registered? i.e whilst only such folk could get access to those papers, so that they could be used fairly as legitimate amd meaningful mock exams?

And if so, is s/he known to be a person of questionable morals generally, or only in his or her 'professional' life?

(Apologies to all, of course, if the school did something daft like use papers that were already freely accessible and the tutor had only used them because by that time, anyone could have done).
Sorry only just seen this and can only assume the tutor used recent papers. Not sure what the school used though.
test1
Posts: 347
Joined: Sun Sep 21, 2014 1:17 am

Re: GCSE 2020

Post by test1 »

test1 wrote:Coronavirus: Schools told no delays so far to exams
Ofqual says it is working with exam boards and the government to make contingency plans if there is a "widespread outbreak".

But until that becomes necessary, the watchdog is telling schools to assume exams will continue as scheduled.

Most GCSEs and A-level exams are planned to run from early May.

On Monday, Ofqual issued advice that "students, schools and colleges should continue to prepare for the summer exams and assessments as usual".

But it said there would be guidance to "manage any particular risks" to the exam season if coronavirus became widespread.
almost a year later ....we are now staring at the cancellation of year 12 exams - after a lot of Denialism
SHertsDad
Posts: 96
Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2013 9:31 am

Re: GCSE 2020

Post by SHertsDad »

Teacher assessments will now be used for GCSE and A Levels. I wonder how will moderation be done?
test1
Posts: 347
Joined: Sun Sep 21, 2014 1:17 am

Re: GCSE 2020

Post by test1 »

Teachers' grades will replace exams in England
He told MPs he would "trust in teachers rather than algorithms", a reference to problems in last year's exam results.

The Ofqual exam watchdog will now have to devise how this will work.

Mr Williamson also said it would be "mandatory" for schools to provide "high-quality remote education" of three to five hours per day.

He said Ofsted inspectors would check that this was delivered.

Labour's Shadow Education Secretary, Kate Green, accused Mr Williamson of "chaos and confusion" - and said he had failed to listen to the teaching profession.

Geoff Barton, leader of the ASCL head teachers' union, warned against repeating the "shambles" of last summer's cancelled exam season.
ToadMum
Posts: 11946
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:41 pm
Location: Essex

Re: GCSE 2020

Post by ToadMum »

test1 wrote:Teachers' grades will replace exams in England
He told MPs he would "trust in teachers rather than algorithms", a reference to problems in last year's exam results.

The Ofqual exam watchdog will now have to devise how this will work.

Mr Williamson also said it would be "mandatory" for schools to provide "high-quality remote education" of three to five hours per day.

He said Ofsted inspectors would check that this was delivered.

Labour's Shadow Education Secretary, Kate Green, accused Mr Williamson of "chaos and confusion" - and said he had failed to listen to the teaching profession.

Geoff Barton, leader of the ASCL head teachers' union, warned against repeating the "shambles" of last summer's cancelled exam season.
From the outside, there was a distinct impression that the ASCL's very detailed and completely uncalled-for advice on how to adjust one's teachers' carefully computed assessed grades before submitting them as 'complete and truthful' or whatever the phrase was on the centre declaration (along the lines of second-guessing what the dreaded algorithm would do to them) was what ultimately caused a lot of the anguish...
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
Tolstoy
Posts: 2755
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:25 pm

Re: GCSE 2020

Post by Tolstoy »

Deja-vue here, we have youngest sitting GCSES this year. Suddenly realising he needs to raise his game re-school work. At least the have advanced warning.
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