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Exam results

J

jakehake

“Morel high warrior”
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Jun 9, 2004
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Interesting that Scotland have had to backtrack on their decision. With rest of teh Country A level this Thursday and GCSE next week wonder whether we will see the same here. Stressful enough and now people are going through another rollercoaster because they've decided meddling was better than trusting the judgement of those who teach them day in day out. But I guess it highlights yet again that everyone is just a statistic to those in power and your postcode is indeed, your lottery number

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The country is going to be desperate for underachievers or, as theyre now called, keyworkers for a generation to come, post Brexit. What better way than to manipulate exam results downwards.

I know, Im an old cynic.
 
Good to see that the SNP rolled it back - these are exceptional circumstances and it is unfair to punish kids who have already missed out on so much.

A lot of journalists and politicians are missing the wider picture - why are the results so different in more deprived areas? That is the next question for the Scottish and UK governments. One which may be swept under the carpet, sadly.

I'm as cynical as Raef - although not as old :D
 
Sepp Blatter said:
Good to see that the SNP rolled it back - these are exceptional circumstances and it is unfair to punish kids who have already missed out on so much.

A lot of journalists and politicians are missing the wider picture - why are the results so different in more deprived areas? That is the next question for the Scottish and UK governments. One which may be swept under the carpet, sadly.

I'm as cynical as Raef - although not as old :D
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In fairness I have no goats to keep me young :)
 
Sepp Blatter said:
Good to see that the SNP rolled it back - these are exceptional circumstances and it is unfair to punish kids who have already missed out on so much.

A lot of journalists and politicians are missing the wider picture - why are the results so different in more deprived areas? That is the next question for the Scottish and UK governments. One which may be swept under the carpet, sadly.

I'm as cynical as Raef - although not as old :D
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That‘s the crux for me - not so much the fact that they’ve been disadvantaged by the way marks have been calculated, more that they’ve been disadvantaged by the the whole system.

Obviously everyone knows smaller classes etc have a massive impact on attainment in independent and better off schools but teaching smaller classes when the schools went back really brought it home. More time to spend with each child led to more noticeable results, even in those 6 weeks.
 
Is it just me that thinks the methodology was probably OK?

An ex headmistress (friend believe it or not 😁) explained it to me. The way I understood it, teachers are always asked to give expected grades, exams or not, and historically certain schools tend to predict higher grades than those achieved in practice. It's these schools that have had results downgraded from teacher predictions.

Seems fair to me.
 
LostinSpace said:
Is it just me that thinks the methodology was probably OK?

An ex headmistress (friend believe it or not 😁) explained it to me. The way I understood it, teachers are always asked to give expected grades, exams or not, and historically certain schools tend to predict higher grades than those achieved in practice. It's these schools that have had results downgraded from teacher predictions.

Seems fair to me.
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The problem is that it is a blunt instrument that skews everything to the average. So, any kids in those schools who were going to get good grades would have had them reduced unfairly.

As I said above, let them go with it this year - it is a one-off and too unpredictable. You can't have a normal curve for results this year because it isn't a normal year.
 
Sepp Blatter said:
The problem is that it is a blunt instrument that skews everything to the average. So, any kids in those schools who were going to get good grades would have had them reduced unfairly.

As I said above, let them go with it this year - it is a one-off and too unpredictable. You can't have a normal curve for results this year because it isn't a normal year.
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Problem is, no system is going to perfect. If you let teachers post their own grades and they're too high, it potentially takes away another kids uni place which was earned and deserved.
 
Too much emphasis is put on academic subjects and the whole blend is just wrong. I fucked around for 5 years at high school because I knew I was good at exams and came out with high grades.

I'm not sure what the answer is and the current situation makes it even harder but it needs to change
 
LostinSpace said:
Problem is, no system is going to perfect. If you let teachers post their own grades and they're too high, it potentially takes away another kids uni place which was earned and deserved.
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Haven't they already had conditional offers? So, they will already know what they need.

Plus, I guess that there will be fewer foreign students, next year, so that might leave plenty of places to fill.
 
LostinSpace said:
Is it just me that thinks the methodology was probably OK?

An ex headmistress (friend believe it or not 😁) explained it to me. The way I understood it, teachers are always asked to give expected grades, exams or not, and historically certain schools tend to predict higher grades than those achieved in practice. It's these schools that have had results downgraded from teacher predictions.

Seems fair to me.
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Some teachers are coerced into over-predicting exam grades by head teachers, especially at schools with OFSTED inspections looming. And some teachers will over-predict grades for their own performance management objectives. But doing so comes back to bite you on the bum if those predicted grades are not achieved. I've always found it best to be honest, and these days in a lot of schools, head teachers are more impressed with the accuracy of your predictions than your actual results because it highlights that you, your school and your pupils know their way around assessment and exam processes.
 
Couldnt care less if a kids grades are a touch higher than they should be, this year.

These kids have been robbed of the most important year of their schooling and the chance, possibly the last chance, to say goodby to some of their classmates. These kids deserve a break.
 
raefil said:
Couldnt care less if a kids grades are a touch higher than they should be, this year.

These kids have been robbed of the most important year of their schooling and the chance, possibly the last chance, to say goodby to some of their classmates. These kids deserve a break.
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Exactly - they gave a lot up, including their future, to save others. They deserve rewarding for that, and a chance to recover some of their lost opportunities.
 
Sepp Blatter said:
Exactly - they gave a lot up, including their future, to save others. They deserve rewarding for that, and a chance to recover some of their lost opportunities.
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The result of that is that some very able kids lose their uni place to a kid from a school that artificial inflates grades.

There are professionals with a lot of experience who’s job it is to grade performance and ability. They won’t get it exactly right, that’s impossible, but they’ll do a far better job than politicians and the rest of us.
 
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