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I think the GCSE English marking was fair. What's all the fuss about?
I've read the boundary for an A went up from 44 to 53. Jumps like this are not unusual. An OCR A2 Biology unit had an A boundary of 40/60 in 2009. It was 42/60 last June. This January it was raised to 47/60 for an A. I don't see why the same shouldn't be allowed for GCSEs. Biology fluctuates a lot between January and June halfway through the course, as does English and a lot of other subjects.
GCSE students are only complaining because they don't understand how the boundaries work. The boundaries weren't raised to spite people halfway through the course; the paper was easier so the boundaries had be be adjusted.
If the boundaries went up by 9 marks then the paper was obviously quite a bit easier than last June and the January just gone, so the boundaries should be adjusted accordingly. My sister got an in GCSE A in Language and and A in GCSE Literature this year. If you write good essays there shouldn't be a problem.
People who are 'outraged' and 'feel robbed' are looking for excuses as too why the didn't perform as well as they wanted to. So what if the boundaries were raised? Obviously whatever these students wrote wasn't worth the same grade as last time people sat this exam.
GCSE students are only complaining because they don't understand how the boundaries work. The boundaries weren't raised to spite people halfway through the course; the paper was easier so the boundaries had be be adjusted.
If the boundaries went up by 9 marks then the paper was obviously quite a bit easier than last June and the January just gone, so the boundaries should be adjusted accordingly. My sister got an in GCSE A in Language and and A in GCSE Literature this year. If you write good essays there shouldn't be a problem.
People who are 'outraged' and 'feel robbed' are looking for excuses as too why the didn't perform as well as they wanted to. So what if the boundaries were raised? Obviously whatever these students wrote wasn't worth the same grade as last time people sat this exam.
(edited 11 years ago)
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People that were crap anyway got crap grades. They feel discriminated against. What's new?
Standards have got to go up at some point or there will be no value in a C grade at all.
Standards have got to go up at some point or there will be no value in a C grade at all.
I don't think it's the fact that the grade boundaries has changed that has infuriated so many people. It's the fact that it was changed so late. I know that grade boundaries change every year, maybe not this much but these boundaries were changed, some say, 2 weeks before results day. Also that Gove and Ofqual could have pressured exam boards into changing boundaries is another this which adds suspicion as to weather the examination was actually less difficult than the exam sat earlier in the year.
its unfair becuase poeple who were going to get c's to do their apprenticeships or a levels can't now because they raised the marks needed to get a C, and they only raised it because people started saying it is too easy to get a C, And i agree it is too easy but you can't raise the marks needed halfway through the course because that is not fair.
Original post by Toomanyoptions
its unfair becuase poeple who were going to get c's to do their apprenticeships or a levels can't now because they raised the marks needed to get a C, and they only raised it because people started saying it is too easy to get a C, And i agree it is too easy but you can't raise the marks needed halfway through the course because that is not fair.
Yes you can; it happens all the time in A-Levels. Biology fluctuates a lot between January and June halfway through the course, as does English and a lot of other subjects.
GCSE students are only complaining because they don't understand how the boundaries work. The boundaries weren't raised to spite people halfway through the course; the paper was easier so the boundaries had be be adjusted accordingly.
How can an English Language Exam be "easier?" I know someone who had an E overall, however, had he sat the exam in January would have had a C with his raw marks...
I got an A overall this year (year ten) however I thought it was unfair marking, not unfair grade boundaries...
Unit 1: 23/40
Unit 2: 25/40
Unit 3: 60/60
Unit 4: 56/60
Thats a huge gap between units which is why I was surprised... Either way, I think it was harsh marking and not the grade boundaries for A/A* but for the D/C the jumps were huge...
I got an A overall this year (year ten) however I thought it was unfair marking, not unfair grade boundaries...
Unit 1: 23/40
Unit 2: 25/40
Unit 3: 60/60
Unit 4: 56/60
Thats a huge gap between units which is why I was surprised... Either way, I think it was harsh marking and not the grade boundaries for A/A* but for the D/C the jumps were huge...
Original post by Roundleaf
Yes you can; it happens all the time in A-Levels. Biology fluctuates a lot between January and June halfway through the course, as does English and a lot of other subjects.
GCSE students are only complaining because they don't understand how the boundaries work. The boundaries weren't raised to spite people halfway through the course; the paper was easier so the boundaries had be be adjusted accordingly.
GCSE students are only complaining because they don't understand how the boundaries work. The boundaries weren't raised to spite people halfway through the course; the paper was easier so the boundaries had be be adjusted accordingly.
Biology fluctuates yes but the exams are also slightly more difficult so boundaries are dropped.
false, their was a clear Political Intervention in the middle of the Academic year to raise the boundaries. For Goves new CSE agenda.
If you want to Stop Grade Inflation,which is mostly down to better teaching , Do it for a new set of students ie current students in Year 9.
The Govt just wants more charter free schools, which any school failing to meet targets will be forced to convert.
Original post by Aspiringlawstudent
People that were crap anyway got crap grades. They feel discriminated against. What's new?
The people who weren't D-grade 'crap' got D's, thereby hindering the possibility of them getting into Uni in future or being employed. That's what the debate is about, mainly - there's a lot of emphasis on getting at least a C or above.
Original post by HotfireLegend
The people who weren't D-grade 'crap' got D's, thereby hindering the possibility of them getting into Uni in future or being employed. That's what the debate is about, mainly - there's a lot of emphasis on getting at least a C or above.
A C is pretty much worthless anyway. It's far too easy to get one. If standards did not go up at some point, they would slide further and further down and command even less respect.
I don't mind the whole O Level and CSE thing... I mean the thing I hate is that they never reformed it, so that I'd be sitting them.. As I'm in year eleven and now my GCSEs will be worthless 
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Original post by Aspiringlawstudent
A C is pretty much worthless anyway. It's far too easy to get one. If standards did not go up at some point, they would slide further and further down and command even less respect.
Even if worthless, it is what the Unis are looking for, so in that regard, it is not worthless.
Some confusion in this thread between 'marking' and 'grading'. The marking was fair, the grading anything but.
This is not about a few GCSE English candidates who are moaning because they were not up to the job. It is about inept political meddling, lax supervision and an appalling lack of leadership. It is about the failure of those in positions of power to take responsibility for their actions which led directly to fifty thousand young people being awarded incorrect grades.
This letter from John Townsley, Principal of two highly-regarded Academies in Leeds and former Ofqual board member to Graham Stuart MP, Chair of the Education Select Committe might help to illuminate the issue.
12 September 2012
Dear Mr Stuart,
I am writing to you and the rest of your colleagues on the Education Select Committee in order to provide you with a perspective of the current situation regarding problems with GCSE English. You may well be aware that I have spoken out prominently on the issue over recent days and that I was up until March 2012 an Ofqual board member.
I heard during your interview on Newsnight yesterday you say that no one has yet explained in simple terms exactly what has taken place with regard to English this year. I agree with that concern and am convinced that a number of simple but very important facts have been lost in what I would describe as being a deliberate attempt to dissemble on the part of Ofqual.
As you are aware this two year GCSE course provided an opportunity for students to sit the examination on two occasions. There were three points during the two year course when this could take place. The first was at the end of Year 10, the second in January of 2012 with a final opportunity in June 2012. Glenys Stacey has repeatedly stated that the number of students taking the examination at the first two of those points was miniscule and that a tiny number of students got ‘a lucky break’. This is simply untrue. As an example, 31,000 students sat Foundation Tier English with AQA alone in June 2011. The number for January 2012 was 54,000. This does not represent a small number and it is a very important point because it leads directly to the problems that emerged in June 2012.
Quite simply Ofqual failed in its responsibly to regulate those two first points of entry. Ofqual have accepted that their position at those two points of entry was that they would expect awarding bodies to raise with them any concerns at that stage. No awarding bodies raised any concerns at that stage. The high numbers of students involved is very important because Ofqual’s failure to regulate at those key moments resulted in too many higher grades being awarded. We know, for example, that in Foundation Tier English in AQA the percentage securing a C grade in June 2011 was 26.6% of 31,000 students. The figure for January 2012 was 37% of 54,000 students. In total over 28,000 students were awarded a C grade from these two Foundation Tier papers. One area which one would have expected Ofqual to examine is exactly how those awards compared across different awarding bodies. It is interesting to note that the same figures for WJEC were 19.4% and 25.6% respectively, a remarkable difference. Even more concerning is the percentage of Cs awarded in the final examination of June 2012. Though the figure for WJEC shows little movement on the January entry at 26.1% the award for students in AQA of 10.2% is alarming. From the 141,000 students who sat the Foundation Tier examination for GCSE English with AQA in the summer of 2012 only 14,380 students emerged with a C grade.
So what we do know for definite is that, despite Glenys Stacey’s protestations that what took place prior to June 2012 affected only tiny numbers of students, an enormous problem had already been created as a result of Ofqual’s failure to regulate.
What we then see taking place in the summer is Ofqual’s determination to ensure that, despite the problems that have been caused by its own failure to regulate, the expected prediction for this year group of 63.9% is achieved. We see irrefutable evidence of this in the leaked letters between Ofqual and Edexcel of 7/8/9 August. The issue here is not that Ofqual are determined to ensure that national predictions are met but that those national predictions can only be met if students taking the English examination in June 2012 have significantly fewer higher grades available to them. Put another way, was it just good luck that, after awarding thousands of students too high a grade in June 2011 and January 2012, that the target percentage of 63.9% was met? I would suggest that it is obvious to anyone viewing this matter with impartiality and fairness that the figure was met through the sacrifice of children taking the examination in June 2012.
Glenys Stacey has also shown herself to be untruthful regarding interviews that were given around the time of the release of Ofqual’s interim report on 31 August. At that time she made clear in the most certain terms possible that ‘June 2012 grade boundaries were correct and set by examiners using their best professional judgement, taking into account all of the evidence available to them’. Again the exchange between Ofqual and Edexcel entirely contradicts this statement.
Glenys Stacey has displayed an endless capacity for dissembling in this matter. Ofqual has lost the respect of the public, politicians and the educational community and is no longer seen as a disinterested, robust regulator. Students who sat the summer 2012 examination in English in good faith were disadvantaged and did not enjoy an equality of opportunity. This was caused by Ofqual’s failure to regulate and by its determination to conceal that failure through an insistence that the national forecast of 63.9% be met regardless of the consequences for children.
Consequently I urge you in the interest of fairness to put this matter right as quickly as possible. We must have the matter investigated independently and we must have the correct grades for GCSE English for June 2012 restored.
Rest assured, this matter will not go away. Many of the very best schools in the country have seen their own performance data devastated by what has taken place and, though this of secondary consideration to us, this will have a profound effect on the education system itself.
I know that you and your colleagues on the Education Select Committee are passionate about ensuring fairness for all children and that you will make difficult recommendations which rise beyond party politics.
My best wishes to you in this most difficult challenge.
Regards,
John Townsley
Executive Principal
This is not about a few GCSE English candidates who are moaning because they were not up to the job. It is about inept political meddling, lax supervision and an appalling lack of leadership. It is about the failure of those in positions of power to take responsibility for their actions which led directly to fifty thousand young people being awarded incorrect grades.
This letter from John Townsley, Principal of two highly-regarded Academies in Leeds and former Ofqual board member to Graham Stuart MP, Chair of the Education Select Committe might help to illuminate the issue.
12 September 2012
Dear Mr Stuart,
I am writing to you and the rest of your colleagues on the Education Select Committee in order to provide you with a perspective of the current situation regarding problems with GCSE English. You may well be aware that I have spoken out prominently on the issue over recent days and that I was up until March 2012 an Ofqual board member.
I heard during your interview on Newsnight yesterday you say that no one has yet explained in simple terms exactly what has taken place with regard to English this year. I agree with that concern and am convinced that a number of simple but very important facts have been lost in what I would describe as being a deliberate attempt to dissemble on the part of Ofqual.
As you are aware this two year GCSE course provided an opportunity for students to sit the examination on two occasions. There were three points during the two year course when this could take place. The first was at the end of Year 10, the second in January of 2012 with a final opportunity in June 2012. Glenys Stacey has repeatedly stated that the number of students taking the examination at the first two of those points was miniscule and that a tiny number of students got ‘a lucky break’. This is simply untrue. As an example, 31,000 students sat Foundation Tier English with AQA alone in June 2011. The number for January 2012 was 54,000. This does not represent a small number and it is a very important point because it leads directly to the problems that emerged in June 2012.
Quite simply Ofqual failed in its responsibly to regulate those two first points of entry. Ofqual have accepted that their position at those two points of entry was that they would expect awarding bodies to raise with them any concerns at that stage. No awarding bodies raised any concerns at that stage. The high numbers of students involved is very important because Ofqual’s failure to regulate at those key moments resulted in too many higher grades being awarded. We know, for example, that in Foundation Tier English in AQA the percentage securing a C grade in June 2011 was 26.6% of 31,000 students. The figure for January 2012 was 37% of 54,000 students. In total over 28,000 students were awarded a C grade from these two Foundation Tier papers. One area which one would have expected Ofqual to examine is exactly how those awards compared across different awarding bodies. It is interesting to note that the same figures for WJEC were 19.4% and 25.6% respectively, a remarkable difference. Even more concerning is the percentage of Cs awarded in the final examination of June 2012. Though the figure for WJEC shows little movement on the January entry at 26.1% the award for students in AQA of 10.2% is alarming. From the 141,000 students who sat the Foundation Tier examination for GCSE English with AQA in the summer of 2012 only 14,380 students emerged with a C grade.
So what we do know for definite is that, despite Glenys Stacey’s protestations that what took place prior to June 2012 affected only tiny numbers of students, an enormous problem had already been created as a result of Ofqual’s failure to regulate.
What we then see taking place in the summer is Ofqual’s determination to ensure that, despite the problems that have been caused by its own failure to regulate, the expected prediction for this year group of 63.9% is achieved. We see irrefutable evidence of this in the leaked letters between Ofqual and Edexcel of 7/8/9 August. The issue here is not that Ofqual are determined to ensure that national predictions are met but that those national predictions can only be met if students taking the English examination in June 2012 have significantly fewer higher grades available to them. Put another way, was it just good luck that, after awarding thousands of students too high a grade in June 2011 and January 2012, that the target percentage of 63.9% was met? I would suggest that it is obvious to anyone viewing this matter with impartiality and fairness that the figure was met through the sacrifice of children taking the examination in June 2012.
Glenys Stacey has also shown herself to be untruthful regarding interviews that were given around the time of the release of Ofqual’s interim report on 31 August. At that time she made clear in the most certain terms possible that ‘June 2012 grade boundaries were correct and set by examiners using their best professional judgement, taking into account all of the evidence available to them’. Again the exchange between Ofqual and Edexcel entirely contradicts this statement.
Glenys Stacey has displayed an endless capacity for dissembling in this matter. Ofqual has lost the respect of the public, politicians and the educational community and is no longer seen as a disinterested, robust regulator. Students who sat the summer 2012 examination in English in good faith were disadvantaged and did not enjoy an equality of opportunity. This was caused by Ofqual’s failure to regulate and by its determination to conceal that failure through an insistence that the national forecast of 63.9% be met regardless of the consequences for children.
Consequently I urge you in the interest of fairness to put this matter right as quickly as possible. We must have the matter investigated independently and we must have the correct grades for GCSE English for June 2012 restored.
Rest assured, this matter will not go away. Many of the very best schools in the country have seen their own performance data devastated by what has taken place and, though this of secondary consideration to us, this will have a profound effect on the education system itself.
I know that you and your colleagues on the Education Select Committee are passionate about ensuring fairness for all children and that you will make difficult recommendations which rise beyond party politics.
My best wishes to you in this most difficult challenge.
Regards,
John Townsley
Executive Principal
boundaries is another this which adds suspicion as to weather the examination was actually less difficult than the exam sat earlier in the year.
It wasn't fair - the fuss is over thefact that the grade boundaries increased when the difficulties of the paper didn't change. It was harder to get a good grade on a paper sat this summer than in January, and not because the questions were easier. Also, because the papers were rightly re-marked in Wales, someone in Enlgand with the exact same marks could have a lower grade than someone in Wales. How is that fair?
Original post by Bad_at_usernames
It wasn't fair - the fuss is over thefact that the grade boundaries increased when the difficulties of the paper didn't change. It was harder to get a good grade on a paper sat this summer than in January, and not because the questions were easier. Also, because the papers were rightly re-marked in Wales, someone in Enlgand with the exact same marks could have a lower grade than someone in Wales. How is that fair?
Five grades in our school had changed...
mine stayed at an A 
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Original post by shadab786ahmed
Five grades in our school had changed... mine stayed at an A
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mine stayed at an A Posted from the Bottom of the Big Blue Sea...
Well done
Original post by Bad_at_usernames
Well done
I'm remarking and resitting... How about you??
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