GCSE overhaul in England made final by Ofqual

[ADK]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-24759476

 

Apart from changing from letters to numbers does anyone know what Gove is actually doing with the GCSE's?

 

 

[Bobby Hundreds]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-24759476

 

Apart from changing from letters to numbers does anyone know what Gove is actually doing with the GCSE's?

 

I think Gove finds counting easier than the alphabet.

[Guest MattP]

 

And there will be more marks awarded for spelling, punctuation and grammar.

 

 

It says in English literature, students will have to "study whole texts in detail, covering a range of literature including Shakespeare, 19th Century novels, Romantic poetry and other high-quality fiction and drama".

 

 

The new maths exam will cover more topics and will be more challenging

 

Headteachers' representative, the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), gave what it said was a "cautious welcome" to the changes.

 

Sounds ok so far, hope the above are followed through on.

[Stadt]

Will it make a difference that some people have traditional GCSE grades and others the new format from an employers perspective?

[Matt]

Will it make a difference that some people have traditional GCSE grades and others the new format from an employers perspective?

 

I wouldn't think so.

 

Experience > Grades.

[Stadt]

I wouldn't think so.

Experience > Grades.

Alright, cheers

[Captain...]

Will it make a difference that some people have traditional GCSE grades and others the new format from an employers perspective?

 

It will make it harder to compare 2 people coming from different years, but good grades are good grades and it shouldn't make that much difference.

[The God Emperor]

I wouldn't think so.

 

Experience > Grades.

this, never had an interviewer ask for any certificates off of me

[Guest MattP]

this, never had an interviewer ask for any certificates off of me

 

Yep, If you are at the Interview stage they won't be giving a shit about your school grades.

[pSinatra]

Will it make a difference that some people have traditional GCSE grades and others the new format from an employers perspective?

 

I took my GCSE's in 1988.......the year they were introduced.

 

If an employer was looking for qualifications they would ask for a number of GCES's or the equivalent 'o' levels.  I always thought that 'o' levels were a damn sight harder to achieve than GCSE's.  They were practically giving GCSE's away.

 

If I was an employer at the time, I would have considered someone with 'o' levels of a higher aptitude over someone with the equivalent number of GCSE's.

[Leicfox]

I was furious that my daughter (Year 11) was withdrawn from the exams she was supposed to take this month because of the first attempt rule that got introduced/announced around 4 weeks ago, she'd worked bloody hard revising for theses.

I can understand why it's been introduced though, to stop Schools manipulating the league tables which they were all doing and so that the school/teachers have more time to drill my daughter to achieve the highest grade possible rather than trying to bank a C grade, but as the school at the beginning of the year got put into "special measures" by Ofsted I'm worried that the mediocre teaching that the report describes won't bring her along any further anyway.  

 

This is the second time she feels she's been let down, as she did an early entry Maths GCSE exam earlier on in the year and passed with a C grade but after taking the exam and between receiving the results someone decided to move the scoring system so it got downgraded to a D grade. It's was quite demoralizing for her as maths is probably her worst subject, but she'll put her head down again and try her best I'm sure.

 

The current set of Year 11's have been messed about something chronic in my view.

[Guest Bilo]

In terms of grading, I would imagine the following would apply.

 

9 = A*

8 = A

7 = B

6 = C

5 = D

4 = E

3 = F

2 = G

1 = Ungraded

 

I welcome the increased importance of SPaG towards the grades; whether you like it or not, it matters in the outside world.

[MooseBreath]

Changing the grading system from letters to numbers will make all the difference imo. An inspired move. Glad someone got paid to come up with that little pearl of brilliance.

[The God Emperor]

Changing the grading system from letters to numbers will make all the difference imo. An inspired move. Glad someone got paid to come up with that little pearl of brilliance.

this way all the illiterate people our education system produces will be able to understand it

[Harry - LCFC]

this way all the illiterate people our education system produces will be able to understand it

 

A child's ability to read and write is almost entirely the responsibility of the parents.

 

If someone is only learning how to read when they first go to school then there is something seriously, seriously wrong with how they were brought up and I make no apologies for saying that. We cannot blame the education system for things that they should not be held responsible for, if there is a child out there who is unable to read then that is the fault of the individual who brought them up not that of the teacher.

[The God Emperor]

A child's ability to read and write is almost entirely the responsibility of the parents.

 

If someone is only learning how to read when they first go to school then there is something seriously, seriously wrong with how they were brought up and I make no apologies for saying that. We cannot blame the education system for things that they should not be held responsible for, if there is a child out there who is unable to read then that is the fault of the individual who brought them up not that of the teacher.

my comment was tongue in cheek   I agree, some parents need to take more responsibility and not expect the state to raise their children

[Harry - LCFC]

my comment was tongue in cheek   I agree, some parents need to take more responsibility and not expect the state to raise their children

 

Ah right, yeah that was really obvious now that I read it again.   

[Guest Bilo]

Changing the grading system from letters to numbers will make all the difference imo. An inspired move. Glad someone got paid to come up with that little pearl of brilliance.

 

A bizarre move, I agree.

 

Everybody has known that, for time immemorial, an A*-C has represented a 'good' GCSE pass. I'll concede changing the parlance to 6-9 is a small one, but the change itself seems like change for its own sake.

[MooseBreath]

I suppose at least they kept the grading system itself. I live in dreadful anticipation of the day that we stop grading kids on the basis that it is morally wrong to discriminate based on ability. That day is coming. We all know it. I want to die the day before that day.

[The God Emperor]

I suppose at least they kept the grading system itself. I live in dreadful anticipation of the day that we stop grading kids on the basis that it is morally wrong to discriminate based on ability. That day is coming. We all know it. I want to die the day before that day.

sounds like the setting of 'anthem'.

[ADK]

I guess the reason for changing from letters to numbers is because there needs to be a distinction between the old exams and the new ones.

 

Is SPaG really that important? I must admit I often make tons of mistakes if I'm writing in a hurry and rely on spell checkers and proof reading if I have to do something important. Goodness knows what my writing was like trying to speed write in an exam. I think as long as you can follow basic sentence structure and the examiner can get what you are trying to convey, that should be good enough.

[ADK]

I suppose at least they kept the grading system itself. I live in dreadful anticipation of the day that we stop grading kids on the basis that it is morally wrong to discriminate based on ability. That day is coming. We all know it. I want to die the day before that day.

 

I'm not sure if the exam system is always the best indicator of ability though. We don't want the scenario where able children are deterred from a productive career because of poor performance in a given exam.

[MooseBreath]

I'm not sure if the exam system is always the best indicator of ability though. We don't want the scenario where able children are deterred from a productive career because of poor performance in a given exam.

And so it begins.

[Stadt]

I'm in Year 11 currently, why does Gove feel the need to be a bit more radical than his predecessors? I'm sure it's just so he can feel better about himself in ten years staring at his Wikipedia entry.

[Jon the Hat]

I'm not sure if the exam system is always the best indicator of ability though. We don't want the scenario where able children are deterred from a productive career because of poor performance in a given exam.

So better they can copy off the internet?